Alien: Evolution's Nightmare
by JamietheBastard
Summary: After being totally disappointed with Prometheus as an Alien Prequel and as a coherent film, I decided to have a go at writing my version of an Alien Prequel containing what I felt was missing from Prometheus: H.R. Giger, Body Horror, Lovecraftian themes, Classic creatures as well as some new horrors, More realistic character motivations, Elements from the first two films.
1. Chapter 1

**ALIEN: EVOLUTION'S NIGHTMARE**

 **By JamietheBastard**

 **Based on Characters and Situations**

 **Created by:**

 **Dan O'Bannon, Ron Shusett, H.R. Giger, James Cameron**

DEEP SURVEY VESSEL USCSS KURTZ CREW MANIFEST.

Flight Crew:

Captain Richard Hunter. Age: 47. Height: 6 feet. Weight: 83 Kilos. Ex Military Pilot. Colony of Origin: Earth. United States. Boston. (Caucasian)

First Officer Yvette Broussard. Age: 32. Height: 5 feet 8 inches. Weight: 62 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. France. Marseilles. French Father, Algerian Mother. (African)

Navigator First Class Mike Kelly. Age 34. Height: 5 feet 10 inches. Weight: 74 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. United Irish Republic. Belfast. (Caucasian)

Engineer First Class Randall McAndrews. Age: 43. Height: 6 feet 4 inches. Weight: 118 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. Scotland. Edinburgh. (Caucasian)

Ships Synthetic, Designation: Elias 7. Model: Hyperdyne Systems 120 A2. Brought Online: March 2109. Flight/Science/Medical Officer.

Mission Security: USCMC. 2 Person Security Detail:

Corporal James Voight. Age: 30. Height: 5 feet 11 inches. Weight: 78 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. United States. Houston. (Caucasian)

Private Kurt Vossler. Age 26. Height: 5 feet 9 inches. Weight: 75 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. United States. New York. Son of German Immigrants. (Caucasian)

Survey Crew:

Weyland/Yutani Corporate Representative Lester Krahe. Age: 42 Height: 5 feet 7inches. Weight: 68 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Luna. Sea of Tranquility. (Caucasian)

Biologist Enrique Martinez. Age: 38. Height: 5 feet 11 inches. Weight: 71 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. South America. Chile. (Latino)

Geologist Elise Ralston. Age: 28. Height: 5 feet 7 inches. Weight: 64 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Thedus. New Melbourne. (Caucasian)

Terraforming Engineer Jeff Taylor. Age: 31. Height: 6 feet 1 inch. Weight: 79 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Earth. United Kingdom. London. Son of Nigerian Immigrants.(African)

Mining Engineer Hiroshi Takamura. Age: 31. Height: 5 feet 8 inches. Weight. 65 Kilos. Colony of Origin: Tansis 4. Neo - Tokyo. (Asian)

PROLOGUE

ALPHA MENSAE STELLAR SYSTEM - FOURTH PLANET - LV 416 - WEYLAND/YUTANI DEEP SURVEY MISSION - EXT. GEOLOGICAL CORE DIG SITE - DAY

It is a bright sunny day on a surprisingly Earth like planet, orbiting a Sol like star. Sandy desert, minimal vegetation, Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere, though slightly lower in oxygen than Earth, due to the sparser vegetation. Oceanic life exists in abundance, some amphibious alligator like predators prey on primitive primates and reptiles, insectoid life is abundant. Mission Geologist Ralston and Mining Engineer Takamura are running a core sample drill, placing cores into ore sample canisters. Ship's Synthetic Elias is monitoring the seismic scanning equipment. Mission Security Pvt. Vossler is keeping watch for any activity from indigenous predators.

ELIAS. V.O.

 _The Geiger counter is registering a rise in radiation levels, I'm reading Uranium 234. Looks like quite sizable deposits._

Elias collects a lead lined ore sample container. With long handled tongs he lifts the radioactive cores into the sample case. Vossler's motion tracker beeps, he studies the readout.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _I've got movement, coming from the river, 50 metres. Looks like another one of Wally Gator's cousins is getting curious._

Vossler puts down his M-40 Pulse Rifle and picks up a flamethrower resting next to him. He walks toward the threat.

CUT TO:

VOSSLER'S POV - HEADS UP DISPLAY - VISOR, COMBAT SPACESUIT

The predator is outlined in Vossler's HUD, size, range, speed.

CUT TO:

Vossler triggers a burst of the flamethrower toward the advancing beast, the creature retreats from the fire then begins to advance toward them from a new direction. Vossler moves closer and triggers a sustained burst from the flamethrower, advancing toward the creature and forcing it's retreat. It gives up and returns to the water.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _So did we score big this time folks?_

RALSTON. V.O.

 _Is cash all you ever think about Jarhead? What about the satisfaction that you have helped humanity push back the boundaries of science just a little bit?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _As long as they express their appreciation in monetary terms, I will be very satisfied._

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _And in answer to your query, Hell yes we have scored planet is the perfect distance from it's sun, abundant mineral resources, sea life, minimal terraforming required. A potential new Colony. The place has a few drawbacks, It's slightly larger than Earth hence the slightly higher gravity, it'll be a few decades before anything but mountain goats will be able to breathe here. But to the company this place is a potential gold mine, and we've all got guaranteed shares._

CAPTAIN HUNTER. V.O.

 _Hunter_ _to survey team 1. Time to wrap it up. Pack up all your equipment., McAndrews is bringing the Rover for pick up. I'm scheduling 4 days R n' R before we hit the freezers and head for our final destination: Zeta II Reticuli. Hunter out._

RALSTON V.O.

 _OK let's pack it up people, the 1st beers are on me._

CUT TO:

FADE IN:

A starfield fills the screen, one of the stars in the centre appears to get larger and brighter. It's a spaceship coming toward us.

A LEGEND APPEARS ONSCREEN:

Weyland/Yutani Deep Survey Vessel USCSS "KURTZ"

COURSE: Entering Zeta II Reticuli System.

MISSION: Mining/Terraforming survey of planets suitable for commercial exploitation.

CREW: 5 Flght Crew, 4 Survey Crew, 1 Weyland-Yutani Rep, 2 Person Colonial Marine Security Detail.

TIME: November 2116

MISSION TIMETABLE: 5 Years, elapsed time 3 Years 8 Months.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

CLOSE UP ON:

Computer monitor. The screen flickers to life, a blinking cursor starts to spell out a message: Transmission Intercepted - Co-ord: Asc 29 degrees 2 mins. Dec 30 degrees 8 mins. Acoustical beacon burst transmission, repeats at 12 second intervals.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - GALLEY

Elias, the ship's synthetic is prepping the galley, making coffee, taking food-pacs from storage lockers etc. The Captain, who is revived before the rest of the crew, walks in yawning.

ELIAS.

 _Morning Captain, coffee?_

HUNTER.

 _Thank you Mr. Elias_

He takes the coffee and drinks.

HUNTER.

 _What's our status?_

ELIAS.

 _We're entering the Zeta II Reticuli system Captain. The computer has detected an incoming signal, an acoustical burst transmission that repeats at 12 second intervals. The source is a moon orbiting the 3rd planet in the system. The designation is LV 427._

HUNTER.

 _There are no outposts in this system, no communications relay this far out._

ELIAS.

 _It does not correspond to any code in the ship's database, registered or unregistered._

HUNTER.

 _It could be an illegal mining operation, a scrambled signal, an unbroken code._

ELIAS.

 _the ECIU program is workng on a translation, but we have to allow the possibility that the transmission is of extraterrestrial origin._

HUNTER.

 _OK let me hear it._

Elias presses controls on a comm panel and the signal is replayed: 12 seconds of very strange noise. A bone chilling, inhuman sound which repeats over and over.

HUNTER.

 _My God, I've never heard anything like that before. Launch a probe Mr. Elias, let's take a closer look at that moon._

ELIAS.

 _Aye Sir._

HUNTER.

 _And wake up the crew, this definitely warrants further investigation._

CLOSE UP ON:

The Captain as he listens to the transmission playback, a concerned expression on his face.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - HYPERSLEEP VAULT.

12 coffin like Hypersleep chambers, one already open and empty.

CLOSE UP ON:

Monitor Screen: The legend: INITIATING CREW RESUSCITATION PROCEDURE.

CUT TO:

The Hypersleep capsules begin to cycle open slowly, machinery whines, the lids open to reveal 10 peole in suspended animation. They slowly begin to awaken.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - GALLEY

The revived crew sit at tables drinking coffee and eating breakfast. A low hum of conversation pervades the galley.

KELLY.

 _I can't wait to get back to Earth and get me a decent cup of coffee._

McANDREWS.

 _Fuck the coffee, I'm looking forward to eating real food again. This recycled crap is poison._

BROUSSARD.

 _Better get used to it, we've still got 16 months before we see Earth again McAndrews._

McANDREWS.

 _This is our last stop Broussard. Five or six weeks of work, then we're on turnaround. Back to the ol' freezers and sleep the fourteen months back to Earth._

VOSSLER.

 _Fourteen months in hypersleep dreaming of how I'm gonna spend all the cash i've made. Five years double backpay plus mission bonus and shares, I can afford to retire in luxury. Hell, might even buy myself a piece of real estate on Mars._

VOIGHT.

 _Yeah I can just see it now, you living right next door to old man Weyland._

The shipwide intercom crackles and people stop to listen.

HUNTER V.O.

 _OK people finish up ya coffee it's time to go to work. Mission briefing in the hangar bay at 0730. Mr. Krahe and Ms. Broussard report to the bridge please._

VOSSLER..

 _That arsehole Krahe thinks he's too good to eat with the rest of us. He always goes straight to his cabin the fuckin' corporate narc, what use is he to the mission anyway?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Alright folks you heard the Captain, you've got 20 minutes to finish up and get the galley squared away for landing._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Hunter and Elias are monitoring the telemetry from the probe that was launched earlier.

HUNTER.

 _That's a definite power source._

ELIAS.

 _And these appear to be artificial structures._

HUNTER.

 _Not like any structures I've ever seen. They look organic, almost like they've been grown._

Broussard and Krahe enter the bridge.

KRAHE.

 _What do we have here Captain?_

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - HANGAR BAY

The crew is gathered for the mission briefing. Hunter, Broussard and Krahe enter.

HUNTER.

 _OK people I suppose you're all wondering why we've interrupted your beauty sleep... Well we've intercepted a transmission. A signal that in all likelihood is extra terrestrial in origin... We may have finally found evidence of non terrestrial intelligence._

The hangar bay is suddenly in an uproar, everybody talking all at once.

MARTINEZ.

 _What kind of signal Captain? what's the point of origin?_

HUNTER.

 _It's an acoustical beacon that originates on a moon in the Zeta II Reticuli system, LV 427._

TAYLOR.

 _Captain we're not equipped or qualified for contact with intelligent alien species, they have special teams trained for just this contigency._

KRAHE.

 _It would take a team from Earth nearly two years to get here. Company regulations state: Any systematised transmission indicating possible intelligent origin must be investigated. The penalty for non compliance is total forfeiture of all shares and bonuses. We don't go, no payday._

HUNTER.

 _I know you all have questions, but right now we don't know any more than this: There appear to be structures and some form of power source. As yet the probe hasn't found any evidence of life forms, or living inhabitants and the only radio traffic is the same repeating signal every 12 seconds. We're taking her in. Everyone report to your stations and secure for landing. We're professionals and we have a job to do_

TAKAMURA. (under his breath)

 _This aint the job I signed up for._

BROUSSARD.

 _You heard the man, landing stations on the double. Dismissed._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Hunter, Broussard, Kelly and Elias at their bridge stations.

HUNTER.

 _All systems are go for landing, take us in._

The crew perform landing procedures.

ELIAS.

 _Orbital insertion complete._

HUNTER

 _Launch GPS sats._

Broussard flicks switches.

BROUSSARD.

 _GPS sats launched._

KELLY.

 _Vector correction 5 degrees starboard, profile looks good._

The ship is buffeted by turbulence as it enters the atmosphere.

HUNTER.

 _Find us somewhere to set down close to the signal source._

KELLY.

 _Can do Captain, we can put down almost on top of it._

HUNTER.

 _Give me a seismic scan of the area, make sure we've got solid ground to land on._

Elias presses controls and scans the readout.

ELIAS.

 _We're good Captain. Solid rock down to a depth of 10 kilometers. No subterranean faults detected, computer analysing geological scan data._

HUNTER.

 _Put us down on Mr. Kelly's co-ordinates._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - NIGHT

The ship sets down on thundering landing engines.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

BROUSSARD.

 _Planetfall achieved, initiating drive engine shutdown._

Hunter addresses the crew over shipwide intercom.

HUNTER.

 _We're down safe folks. We've still got 2 hours until local sunrise, survey team prep for EVA._

ELIAS.

 _Atmospheric analysis complete Captain. Nitrogen, Methane, Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen, unbreathable._

BROUSSARD.

 _Sounds like Los Angeles on a good day._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - NIGHT

The ship has landed close to a Biomechanoid pyramid like structure, bizarre and Alien.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - SUIT LOCKER

The survey team: Elias, Takamura (Mining Engineer), Martinez (Biologist), Ralston (Geologist), Taylor (Terraforming Engineer), Voight and Vossler (Colonial Marines), are donning spacesuits and checking their hardware.

TAKAMURA.

 _Does anyone else think we're in over our heads here? We're a survey team what the hell do we know about first contact protocols?_

RALSTON.

 _Do you really think we're going to find anything alive? The probe turned up no trace of life forms._

VOSSLER.

 _Yeah this place feels like a fuckin' graveyard._

MARTINEZ.

 _We're on site, we invetsigate. That's standard operating procedure._

TAYLOR.

 _Once they receive our preliminary report they'll send a full scientific expedition and set up a permanent base._

RALSTON.

 _I'm a geologist, I don't have a lot of experience in the dead alien civilisation department._

MARTINEZ.

 _The first evidence of intelligent life we've found in the galaxy, this is the opportunity of a lifetime._

VOIGHT.

 _And we're first on the scene, think of the bonus money. Guaranteed shares in anything we find here._

VOSSLER.

 _Fuck yeah Corp. I'm gonna be rich enough to buy Mars when we get back._

RALSTON.

 _Fucking marines, too stupid to be scared._

VOSSLER.

 _Bite me, bitch._

Vossler gives Ralston a grin. Despite the insults these two obviously share a connection.

VOIGHT.

 _C'mon people focus, we've got a job to do. Stay frosty or people could get hurt._

They finish suiting up.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Captain we're ready for EVA, unlock the weapons locker._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

The Captain presses controls on a console and addresses the computer.

HUNTER.

 _This is Captain Hunter authorising weapons locker release._

He enters a 10 digit code.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - WEAPONS LOCKER

The locks cycle open. Voight takes out two M40 Pulse Rifles and hands one to Vossler. He opens the ammunition storage recess and takes out two, 5 magazine pacs. He hands one to Vossler who breaks the plastic seal and slams one into his weapon, he puts the rest into a pouch on his combat spacesuit, Voight does likewise.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Alright Captain we're locked and loaded, ready to Rock and Roll._

HUNTER. V.O

 _Acknowledged Corporal._

Elias activates the airlock controls and the inner hatch opens. They file into the airlock, the inner door closes and the outer hatchcycles open.

EXT. LV 427 - SUNRISE - SURVEY TEAM POV

The rising sun reveals a vast biomechanoid city, glistening wetly in the sickly, yellowish half light of dawn. Obscene shapes, ribbed tubes, bonelike protuberances, alien architecture strangely sexual in nature, coloiurs of a spectrum no human eye has ever seen, it is a scene from a Ketamine induced nightmare delirium. 

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Welcome to Hell._

FADE OUT

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

On the large viewscreen we see the same view as the survey team. On a smaller monitor split into seven frames we see the views from the survey teams helmet cams.

HUNTER.

 _My God. Do we really want to meet whatever finds this a pleasant place to live?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain I think this place is dead. still no life readings, nothing on the motion trackers, zip on infra red. Only one faint power source detected in that pyramid structure._

KELLY.

 _And that fucking transmission._

Onscreen the survey team are heading for the pyramid, about one kilometre away from the Kurtz. They approach what appears to be an entrance.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _We're about to enter the structure Captain._

They enter the Pyramid.

BROUSSARD.

 _Hold up, the probe's picking up another signal._

She manipulates controls on her console.

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain you're not going to believe this, we're picking up a distress signal from an Earth vessel. Location is...It's only two klicks from here. The transmitter must be nearly out of power, the signal's not strong enough to penetrate the cloud cover and something seems to be blocking us from picking it up._

She manipulates more controls and the signal is patched in, at first it is very faint and unintelligible.

HUNTER.

 _Can you boost the gain?_

Broussard does this and the distress signal comes through at a higher volume.

CAPTAIN VOLKER. V.O.

 _Mayday, Mayday, This is Captain Hans Volker of the exploratory vessel USC Leviathan. We landed on LV 427 to investigate a signal we intercepted. My crew went out to explore and never returned, only myself and my First Officer Taniko Shima are still alive. We tried to find the crew but were unable to locate any trace of them, by now their oxygen will have been depleted and they are surely dead. Navigation Computer has crashed, cannot program Auto Pilot for Earth return trajectory. My First Officer and I will place ourselves in Hypersleep to await rescue...Mayday, Mayday, This is Captain Hans Volker of the exploratory vessel USC Leviathan. We landed on LV 427 to investigate a signal we intercepted. My crew went out to explore and never returned, only myself and my First Officer Taniko Shima are still alive..._

The transmission on a loop repeats over until it fades out entirely in static, something is interfering with the signal.

KELLY.

 _Got it Captain. According to the ships database, The USC Leviathan was listed as missing with all hands 41 years ago._

HUNTER.

 _41 years, what are the chances that they are still alive? Could their Hypersleep capsules still have power?_

BROUSSARD.

 _It's possible Captain, they would have reserved most of their power for the capsules. Depending on what state their reactor is in, I'd say the chances are pretty good._

CLOSE UP ON:

Hunter deep in thought, contemplating this new development.

HUNTER.

 _OK, Broussard we're going out there. Suit up and meet me at the airlock in 15. If they're still alive McAndrews can bring the Rover to pick 'em up._

BROUSSARD.

 _Couldn't we just take the Rover now?_

HUNTER.

 _No. I want it on hand here in case the survey team need it in a hurry. We'll only use it if we have to._

BROUSSARD.

 _Aye Sir._

She exits the bridge.

KRAHE.

 _Do you think this is a good idea Captain? If anything happens to you could we still get home?_

HUNTER.

 _Elias, Kelly and McAndrews could manage it without us, it would be difficult but they could do it. You really should be more concerned about whether anything happens to Mr. Elias. He's more essential than I am._

KELLY.

 _Company regulations are also pretty strict on the issue of going to the aid of any vessel in distress, as much so as they are on investigating alien signals._

HUNTER.

 _So, good idea or not Krahe, we're going out to see if they are still alive. That vessel is definitely in distress. Mr. Kelly you have the bridge._

He leaves to get suited up.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - ENTRANCE CHAMBER

A massive Chamber with three groups of three orifice like tunnel entrances spaced around it. The Chamber walls are skeletal in appearance, with ribbed organic tubes running into floor and ceiling and bizzare growths sprouting everywhere. It has the feeling of being inside a living organism that is being eaten away by a cancerous disease. The survey team are in awe of the sheer size and alien quality of the structure.

VOIGHT V.O.

 _Vossler are you getting anything on the motion tracker?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Nothing Corp, but the signal cuts out intermittently, getting a bit of break up._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Probably getting some interference from the structure._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Nothing showing up on infra red._

He manipulates controls on his scanner and scans each tunnel orifice in turn.

MARTINEZ V.O.

 _I'm getting a reading on the power source from the tunnel in the middle._

RALSTON. V.O.

 _This fucking place gives me the creeps._

VOIGHT.

 _Time to start earning some of that back-pay ladies and gentlemen. Vossler you're on point I've got the rear, let's move 'em out_.

VOSSLER. V.O. (SINGS)

 _Keep rolling, rolling, rolling._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Vossler,shut up. Voight to Kurtz, we have a reading on the power source, we are moving out to investigate._

KELLY. V.O.

 _Copy that Corporal, check in at 15 minute intervals. Kurtz out._

The team move toward the tunnel orifice.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MAIN AIRLOCK

Broussard and Hunter are suited up. Hunter takes a Flamethrower from the weapons locker and hands it to Broussard. He then takes a Pulse Rifle and ammo for himself.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _What's with the hardware Boss? you expecting trouble?_

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Better safe than sorry. We've got a downed ship with a dead crew, in an unknown situation. It's best not to take chances. The probe hasn't turned up any nasty indigenous predators, but they could just be really good at hiding._

They enter the airlock and the inner hatch closes behind them.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - DAY

The sunlight refracted and diffused by the heavy cloud cover provides only a faint illumination. The planet exists in a state of semi darkness during daylight hours, the sickly yellow colour of the greasy, polluted clouds bathes the surface in a nauseous hue.

Hunter and Broussard move out in the direction of the USC Leviathan's final resting place.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

The team are part way along the tunnel when it takes a sharp turn. Until now the team were still in sight of the Entrance Chamber.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

CLOSE UP ON:

HELMET CAM MONITOR

Suddenly the helmet cam feed goes black.

KELLY.

 _Shit, I've lost their suit telemetry, all feeds are dead._

He punches buttons on the comm panel.

KELLY.

 _Kurtz to Voight are you reading me?...Kurtz to survey team is any body reading me?... Goddamn it. Kelly to survey team please respond..._

The radio is dead, only static can be heard.

KRAHE

 _Could it be the structure blocking the signal?_

KELLY.

 _Kurtz to Hunter, Captain we've lost contact with the survey team, all feeds are down...Kelly to Hunter respond...Jesus we've lost the Captain too._

STATIC

CLOSE UP ON:

MONITOR SCREEN

The legend COMMS DOWN - TELEMETRY DOWN - VIDEO FEED DOWN flashes on and off insistently.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - BIOMECHANOID CITY - DAY

Hunter and Broussard are overwhelmed by the strangeness of the City. As they head towards the USC Leviathan they are experiencing culture shock at the hideous architecture of a strange alien Biomech society. Organic looking receptacles, connected with Biomechanical tubes and pipes, leaking sickly looking fluids, obscene echoes of human sexuality, run between the structures. One such structure ahead resembles a giant bone in the shape of the letter U laying flat on the surface. As they approach, the structure towers above them and they stop to inspect it.

BROUSSARD V.O.

 _What the hell do you think this is? Looks like 3 entrances into it, what do you think is inside it?_

Hunter looks at the structure with disgust. A cancerous like alien fungal blight is encroaching on the structure. Also on many others.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _I don't know. Who can say that it's anything we could even understand, our terms of reference bear no relationship whatsoever to a truly Alien society. Let's keep going, we're not far off the Leviathan._

He checks the reading on his GPS unit and they move on.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - INNER CHAMBER ONE

Another large Chamber. The same skeletal internal structure as the first. Three groups of three tunnel orifices in the Chamber walls.

Elias taps on his wrist control pad.

ELIAS. V.O.

 _Corporal I've got no reading on my GPS unit._

Voight checks his unit.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Shit, GPS is down. Voight to Kurtz we have lost GPS signal, acknowledge... Survey team to Kurtz respond...Looks like comms are down too. We can still read each other so we still have line of sight comms. It must be the structure blocking our signal to the ship. Martinez how far is the power source?_

Martinez scans the orifices and re-locates the signal.

MARTINEZ V.O.

 _About eight hundred metres._

VOIGHT V.O.

 _OK, we've come this far, we're going on. I don't want Krahe bitching that we didn't do a thorough job. Takamura, Ralston it's your lucky day. Head back to the entrance Chamber and report back to the ship. Tell the Captain we're going on to check out the power source._

TAKAMURA V.O.

 _Thank Christ for that._

VOIGHT V.O.

 _Saddle up people, keep it tight, two metre spread. I don't want anybody getting lost. Vossler three hour marking flares every fifty metres, move out._

Vossler marks the tunnel they came through with a flare.

They enter the next tunnel orifice.

Ralston stands at the tunnel orifice that leads back to the entrance chamber.

RALSTON. V.O.

 _Come on let's get the hell out of here._

They enter the tunnel.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - BIOMECHANOID CITY - USC LEVIATHAN - DAY

Hunter and Broussard have reached the USC Leviathan. The alien fungoid blight is encroaching on the exploratory vessel. Broussard scans the ship.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _I'm reading a low level power source, the reactor is still functioning. Minmal life support detected._

Hunter presses the airlock controls. The airlock outer door opens halfway and stops.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _The power's failed, if they're still alive we better get them out ASAP or they'll suffocate in their hypersleep capsules._

They enter the airlock. Hunter opens the panel which houses the manual airlock controls and cranks the outer door closed, then he cranks the inner door open. Emergency battery powered lights illuminate the ship's interior. Hunter taps controls on his wrist display and calls up the ship schematics he downloaded from the Kurtz' database.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _The hypersleep vault is this way._

He indicates the direction and they head towards the vault.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

Ralston and Takamura are halfway back to the entance chamber, where the tunnel takes a sharp turn, they fail to notice that the tunnel they are following continues on further into the pyramid. The tunnel has branched in two. As the 2nd tunnel is offset from the main tunnel and it's entrance is disguised by an optical illusion, the lines of the tunnel opening blend right in with the skeletal internal structure of the pyramid, the 2nd tunnel enrance is almost invisible to anyone travelling into the pyramids inner chambers, as is the tunnel leading back to the entrance chamber now unseen as they travel back the other way. The illusion can be seen through if the tunnel is well lit and the party is moving slowly, but Ralston and Takamura are only focused on getting back to the ship and continue unkowingly further into the pyramid.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - INNER CHAMBER TWO

A scene of ancient carnage. Giant corpses, yellow, bipedal, two armed, fourteen feet in length, skeletal, elephantine proboscis. Mingled in with black corpses vaguely insectoid, nine feet in length, bipedal two armed, elongated, eyeless heads, exoskeletal, long tails. All the remains show evidence of brutal combat. Limbs and heads ripped off, skulls smashed.

The survey team wander amongst the destruction, awed by a sight no human has ever before witnessed.

ELIAS. V.O.

 _Gotterdammerung, Twilight of the Gods. Ragnarok._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Whose Gods compadre?_

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _I'm glad I'm an atheist._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _C14 scans indicate these corpses are approximately three thousand years old._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _About the same age as your last girlfriend Corp. These guys are better looking though._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _There's only one exit from this chamber, it looks like this was a last stand to protect whatever the power source is supplying. OK let's go see what the hell these things died to protect. Don't worry private, if we find one alive we'll set you up on a date._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _C'mon Corp, you know I only date your Mama._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _She told me you couldn't get it up, move out wiseguy._

They enter the last tunnel.

CUT TO:

INT. USC LEVIATHAN - HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Hunter and Broussard stand before two occupied hypersleep capsules. They are unable to see the occupants inside. Hunter starts rummaging through storage compartments until he finds what he was looking for: a long handled device for manually opening the hypersleep capsules. He fits this into it's receptacle.

HUNTER V.O.

 _Help me crank these things open, they don't have much time left._

Hunter and Broussard strain at turning the manual lever, with a screech of metal on metal the crank begins to turn, slowly raisng the capsule lids inch by inch. Breathing hard from the effort they inspect the now open capsules.

HUNTER. V.O. (Breathing fast from exertion)

 _Oh God no...Fuck me..._

CLOSE UP ON:

The open hypersleep capsules. The sight of what they contain is horrific and sickening: An unholy mass of semi translucent, protoplasmic fungoid nightmare, a hideous fusion with something that had once been a human being. Within the pulsating, undulating, fungal horror, certain details would become visible briefly then fade back into the palpitating mass: Organic tubes and skeletal details strangely reminiscent of the architecture of the Biomechanoid city outside, seem to stretch out the semi opaque skin, then fade away. Suddenly Hunter could discern what vaguely looked like a partial human face with a closed eye. A shiver of pure primal, animal fear, that feels like fingers of cold steel, rakes down his back as suddenly, the eye opens and looks directly at him. Insanity stares into his eyes and threatens to drag him under it's black, oily surface.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Broussard give me the flamethrower and wait for me by the airlock._

She stumbles out in a state of shock. Hunter backs up to the entrance of the hypersleep vault and sprays the capsules with a sustained burst from his flamethrower.

CLOSE UP ON:

Hunter, face set in grim determination as he hoses the capsules with fire again.

CLOSE UP ON:

The capsules, burning fiercely, the obscene things within writhe in agony as they are incinerated.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

Ralston and Takamura enter a vast chamber.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _Nice going Ralston we're lost, this isn't the entrance chamber_

RALSTON.V.O.

 _Holy Shit._

The chamber walls contain hundreds of niches housing biomechanoid monstrosities. Ovoid shapes some three feet tall. Ribbed tubes emanating from bizarre organic machinery set above the egglike pods, are inserted into the semi translucent yellowish green ovoids, some leaking noxious looking the niches are covered by a curtain of blue mist, she pushes her hand through the mist but nothing happens. Ralston approaches a niche that contains something different to the ovoid pods. Shining her torch on the abomination within, it appears to be the remains of a human being. Coccooned in a sitting position, knees drawn up to it's chest, it's limbs are fused together. Cancerous growths cover the sickly yellow/grey/green translucent outer skin. The tubes that were inserted into this cocoon are all untethered.

RALSTON. V.O.

 _Look at this, Sweet Jesus this thing was human once._

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I think I'm gonna be sick, we have to get the fuck out of here now._

Takamura stumbles and falls to his knees retching. He staggers to his feet and runs blindly into a tunnel.

RALSTON. V.O.

 _Hiroshi wait up, you're gonna break a leg and I can't carry you back to the ship._

She goes after him.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - HIBERNATION CHAMBER

A vast chamber containing row upon row of sixteen foot long biomechanoid sarcophagi. Fed by tubes and organic pipes, each sarcophagus contains one of the fourteen foot tall hollow eyed, elephantine exoskeletons.

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _The Tomb of The Elder Gods._

Elias scans the "coffins" and stops in front of one.

ELIAS. V.O.

 _This is the power source. I believe that this is a suspended animation facility._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _I'm getting readings that indicate organic functions, this thing is still alive. All the others are dead._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Could it be some form of hibernation suit?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Yeah and fuckin' Santa Claus is inside it._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _No. It's definitely an exoskeleton. The X-Ray scanner shows internal organs, there's no underlying skeletal structure. Hard shell, soft interior._

ELIAS. V.O.

 _Not Gods then. Only mere mortals after all._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Corporal I'm reading a slight increase in power levels, I think this thing might be waking up._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Maybe we tripped some sort of alarm clock when we entered the chamber. We've discharged our responsibilities to the company, time to head back to the ship. I don't wanta be around if this thing wakes up in a bad mood._

Elias seems fascinated by the creature. He places his hand on an indentation in the sarcophagus lid, obviously made for hand much larger and differently shaped than a human hand. suddenly he stiffens as if transfixed and topples over.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Jesus, what the hell was that? Is he dead?_

Martinez scans the android.

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _No he's still functioning, I'm reading electrical activity in his CPU. Some sort of short circuit maybe._

TAYLOR V.O.

 _We can't leave him here, do you know what these things cost? There goes our bonuses._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Hold up, neural activity is increasing. He's waking up._

Elias begins to stir, he slowly rises to his knees and then stands up.

ELIAS. V.O.

 _My positronic neural net suffered a massive overload. It is designed to shut down in such circumstances to prevent damage. All normal functions appear to be resumed, though I will require a full systems diagnostic to be 100 percent certain._

VOIGHT. V.O

 _Thank God for that, you gave us quite a scare pal. Alright back to base. I'll take point Vossler bring up the rear, let's move._

They head back the way they came.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - BIOMECHANOID CITY - DAY

Hunter and Broussard are returning to the Kurtz. As they cross an intersection Broussard spots a spacesuited figure lying behind a tangle of bio mech pipes, they go over to investigate. It is a corpse in a spacesuit, a grinning skull leers out of a smashed visor. The ship's insignia tag reads USC LEVIATHAN. The name tag reads FAUST.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Rest in Peace you poor bastard._

Hunter reaches down and takes an object from the hand of the dead astronaut. An old fashioned Hand Scanner/Data Recorder.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _There might still be some recoverable files in this relic. I'll have McAndrews see if he can retrieve anything when we get back, maybe we can find out what happened to them._

CLOSE UP ON:

The grinning skull in the smashed visor.

Hunter and Broussard continue on. As they come in sight of the ship Hunter contacts the bridge.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Hunter to Kurtz, we are returning to the ship, our ETA is ten minutes._

KELLY. V.O.

 _Captain we've lost contact with the survey team, and I couldn't raise you either._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _The Alien structures block our radio signals, If they haven't returned in an hour I'll go in after them Hunter out._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG HATCHERY

Ralston and Takamura enter another large chamber, out of breath from Takamura's panicked flight. The entrance is also covered by a curtain of blue mist.

RALSTON V.O.

 _Hiroshi for fucks sake stop. Panicking aint gonna help, we're totally lost now._

As she regains her breath after chasing Takamura she inspects the chamber. It contains leathery, ovoid organic urns, they are empty, with four flaps folded down. They are arranged about the chambers walls where more dessicated human corpses are cocooned. Their chests all have gaping wounds with broken, protruding ribs. It's like they exploded from within. Littered around their feet are hundreds of dessicated, insectoid remains, very reminiscent of dead spiders, legs drawn up and in toward the abdomen.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

The ovoid Egg mutation in the niche where Ralston disturbed the blue mist, begins to quiver and palpitate in it's niche. The feeding tubes all violently detach, spraying vile liquid. A loud, wet ripping noise is heard as the Egg membrane tears open. A creature about the size of a very large crab, pulls itself free and lands on the floor with a wet thump. Eight fingerlike jointed legs, a torso complete with a long upcurving segmented tail, tipped with a wicked six inch stinger. It rights itself and almost appears to be scenting the air with it's first pair of fingerlike legs raised like antennae waving back and forth. Suddenly they stop and the creature scuttles off into the tunnel Ralston and Takamura went into.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG HATCHERY

Ralston and Takamura are standing near the tunnel orifice where they entered the chamber. Ralston diverts Takamiura's attention from the coccooned corpses in the shadows on the far side of the chamber.

RALSON. V.O.

 _OK now you've chilled out, we can try and get back to the entrance chamber. If we head back to the last chamber, I can find the tunnel we came in. Then all we gotta do is retrace our steps slowly until we find where we took a wrong turn. We'll be back at the ship in no time. Whatta ya say amigo?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I'll be alright. Those things in that room freaked the shit out of me. Do you think more of them had people in them? Where did they come from?_

RALSTON. V.O.

 _I don't know Hiroshi, but we just gotta stay frosty as Voight would put it. We keep our heads we'll get out of here. I'm scared shitless too you know._

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I know, I'm sorry I lost it. Let's just get back to the ship, I puked in my suit and it stinks bad._

CLOSE UP ON:

On the far side of the chamber there is still one unhatched Egg. With a slithering sound the four flaps peel back, and two probing yellow fingers appear over the rim of the Egg.

Ralston and Takamura are getting ready to try and find their way back. Using the empty Eggs as cover the Facehugger is sneaking up on them.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _Did you see that? I thought I saw something move._

She looks in the direction he is indicating

RALSTON. V.O.

 _I don't see anything, It's just your nerves. Let's go._

Suddenly the creature launches itself onto Ralston's helmet, her visor starts hissing and smoking. She grabs the creature by it's tail and tries to dislodge it, but the thing has a vicelike grip.

RALSTON. V.O

 _Get it off, get it off, it's melting_ _through my fucking visor_.

She starts coughing and choking.

Takamura tries to grab the creature's tail and help her pull it off, but suddenly he has his own crisis to deal with: the Scorpion Facehugger has followed them, and it starts to climb his spacesuit leg.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _Oh fuck, oh fuck get it off me get it fucking off meeee..._

The Scorpion reaches his waist and jabs it's stinger deep into his stomach. It then drops off and scuttles away. Takamura crumples to his knees clutching his stomach.

SUIT COMPUTER. V.O.

 _WARNING. SUIT INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. OXYGEN DEPLETION IN T MINUS 15 MINUTES._

Struggling against the effects of the alien venom, Takamura removes a Tempseal patch from a pouch and slaps it over the hole in his spacesuit. The instagrip bond fuses and his suit integrity is restored. He tries to stand up and falls to the ground unconscious.

CLOSE UP ON:

Ralston lying unmoving on the ground. A smoking hole in her visor, the creature covering her face. It undulates in time with her breathing.

FADE OUT

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MAIN AIRLOCK

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _Prepare for full decontamination. Please stand with arms raised and legs apart until decontamination complete._

Hunter and Broussard, fully spacesuited, comply. Vents evacuate the planetary atmosphere.

UV lights in the walls, floor and ceilings bathe them in UV for fifteen seconds, a pause and again. High pressure jets of gas blast them for fifteen seconds.

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _Decontamination Complete. Pressurising Airlock._

Vents evacuate the gas, and the Airlock begins to pressurise. The access light above the inner door changes from red to green.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - SUIT LOCKER

Broussard and Hunter are removing their spacesuits.

HUNTER.

 _Are you OK?_

BROUSSARD.

 _What the hell happened to them?_

HUNTER.

 _Some sort of parasitical infection, there seems to be some sort of blight infecting this place._

BROUSSARD.

 _You don't think it could get aboard the Kurtz do you?_

HUNTER.

 _I don't think so. Decontamination is very thorough. The Leviathan's been downed in this atmosphere for 41 years, the airlock and hypersleep seals have probably deteriorated due to corrosive elements in the air. We're not staying here any longer than we have to. Don't mention what we found yet, I don't need anyone getting spooked. Are you going to be alright with keeping it to yourself for now?_

BROUSSARD.

 _I can deal with it Captain. I was Second Officer aboard a Hospital quarantine ship when the Rigellian plague hit Port Heinlein. That wasn't pretty._

HUNTER.

 _Alright, let's get the survey team back on board and we can get the hell off this godforsaken moon._

They head for the Bridge.

CUT TO:

INT LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

Voight's team are heading back to the entrance chamber. They notice that there are many tunnels leading off the main tunnel, that they weren't aware of on their inwards journey.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _We didn't see any of these when we came through._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _It's an optical illusion, you see the way the entrances are offset with the main tunnel, and in low light the skeletal architecture blends in. If the tunnel was brightly lit the illusion wouldn't hold up._

They reach the point where the tunnel takes a sharp turn.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _This has to be where we turn, give me an infra red scan._

Martinez scans the turn leading to the entrance chamber.

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _This is the way we came, I've picked up the trace from our suits heat exchangers._

They head on towards the entrance.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Hunter, Broussard and Kelly are on watch. Suddenly the helmet cam screens come to life.

KELLY.

 _Captain, I've got cam feed back. Ralston and Takamura are still down._

BROUSSARD.

 _Ditto on suit telemetry feeds._

VOIGHT V.O.

 _...ght to ...tz. re... o ... E.. ...nute.. Voi... .. Kur.. ... Re..._

BROUSSARD.

 _There's a storm front heading this way, could be interfering with communications._

CLOSE UP ON:

The large viewscreen.

Five spacesuited figures are approaching the ship.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS - KURTZ - MAIN AIRLOCK

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _Decontamination Complete, Pressurising Airlock._

A light above the inner door changes from red to green. The team exit the airlock. They start to remove their helmets. Captain Hunter is waiting for them in the suit locker.

HUNTER.

 _Thank Christ you're back I was just about to come looking for you. What happened to Ralston and Takamura?_

VOSSLER.

 _What do you mean? Aren't they here?_

VOIGHT.

 _They should have been back over an hour and a half ago, I sent them back to report when we lost GPS and comms._

MARTINEZ.

 _They must have gone straight ahead when they should have turned._

VOIGHT.

 _Shit. I thought it was a straight trip back to the entrance, they should have been out of there in twenty minutes._

MARTINEZ.

 _It wasn't your fault Corporal, none of us knew. If they had of been paying attention they might not have gotten lost._

VOIGHT.

 _They were spooked, that's why I picked them to report back to base. I should have sent Vossler with 'em._

VOSSLER.

 _There's no point whining about it, I'm going back in. Marines don't leave people behind._

He starts to put his helmet back on.

HUNTER.

 _Hold up a minute Mr. Vossler, They still have plenty of O2 in reserve I'm taking in a search team but we're not going to rush in blindly. Swap out your suit for a fresh one, Voight, Taylor and Martinez you too. Report back here for EVA in 30 minutes, dismissed._

Hunter goes to a comm panel and presses the intercom button.

HUNTER.

 _Mr. Krahe and Ms Broussard report to the Med-Bay in fifteen minutes. Mr. Elias you're with me._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

HUNTER.

 _What exactly are we dealing with here Mr Elias?_

ELIAS.

 _We discovered what was an apparently extinct alien civilisation. The remains of two species who were in conflict. Thousands of corpses in a suspended animation facility long since drained of power. The power source we detected was supplying the stasis chamber of the last surviving member of the dominant species, who Captain, is still alive and possibly reviving._

HUNTER.

 _You encountered no hostile organisms?_

ELIAS.

 _We discovered no evidence of other living organisms hostile or otherwise, but that does not preclude the possibility of their existence. Captain I must report that the life form in stasis communicated with me._

HUNTER.

 _What the hell? It talked to you? you could understand it?_

ELIAS.

 _I had contact with what I believe to be a communications device they use to communicate with their comrades whilst in stasis. Their minds are unbelievably powerful, even in deep hibernation they can still communicate. There was no verbal language as we would understand it, it was pure mental contact that transmitted data directly into my neural net. The amount of data transmitted was overwhelming, it overloaded my positronic matrix which shut down temporarily. I have some vague images and impressions, but it will take some considerable time for my neural net to process and catalogue the data. I will require a full systems diagnostic to ensure I am at peak operating capacity._

HUNTER.

 _Keep this to yourself for now Mr. Elias._

ELIAS.

 _Captain, company regulations state that any information of this nature must be reported to company authorities immediately. Mr. Krahe will expect a full report._

HUNTER.

 _I will deal with Krahe for now, he will be duly informed of all discoveries. But I don't want you to talk to anyone until I get a full report. I don't trust Krahe to put the welfare of the crew and ship ahead of the company's agenda. Understood Mr. Elias?_

ELIAS.

 _Aye Sir._

Broussard and Krahe enter.

HUNTER.

 _Alright listen up, the situation is this: we have two people missing inside the pyramid. They have roughly three hours oxygen reserve. I will take in a search team and retrieve them. If we do not return in five hours, I'm ordering you to take off and return to Earth._

BROUSSARD.

 _Hell no Captain, we'll come in and get you._

HUNTER.

 _No, you will follow my orders. Your priority is to return to Earth and report what we dscovered._

KRAHE.

 _Exactly Captain, your orders will be followed. You. android. I want a full report on everything you discovered in the alien structure._

HUNTER.

 _That will have to wait for now. Mr. Elias suffered a neural overload during the EVA. I'm ordering him to run a full systems diagnostic, if there is any damage we need to know ASAP. He will be offline for four or so hours, when we are sure he is at peak operating capacity you will receive a full report._

KRAHE.

 _As you wish Captain._

HUNTER.

 _Broussard help Elias prep for the diagnostic, then return to your station._

He goes to a comm panel.

HUNTER.

 _McAndrews I want the Rover prepped for immediate EVA._

McANDREWS. V.O.

 _Will do Boss._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - SUIT LOCKER

Hunter enters already suited up apart from his helmet. Voight is distributing weapons. He hands Vossler a Pulse Rifle and ammo. He addresses Martinez and Taylor

VOIGHT.

 _Do either of you have any weapons training?_

MARTINEZ.

 _I do. Two years National Service. Army._

Voight hands him a Flamethrower. Captain Hunter takes a Pulse rifle for himself. They load up items of Search and Rescue gear, Marking Paint, Flares, Ropes and Climbing gear.

HUNTER.

 _We're taking the Rover, grab your helmets and head for the hangar bay._

They file out.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - ROVER - DAY

Hunter in the driver's seat with Voight riding shotgun, the pyramid can be seen through the windscreen of the Rover, growing larger as they approach. Hunter pulls the vehicle up close to the entrance.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _You were in the service, weren't you Captain?_

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Five years. Dropship pilot. Shot down over Tansis 4 during the farmer's rebellion, that's when I decided a career as a commercial pilot was looking good._

They come to the sharp turn in the tunnel. They explore the entrance that was hidden from sight on the first EVA.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Any heat trace on the IR scanner Mr. Taylor?_

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Nothing, their trail's gone cold._

VOSSLER.V.O.

 _This must be the way they came, we'll find 'em._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Start marking our route, alternate paint and flares every thirty metres._

Vossler takes a can of fluorescent marking spray from his belt and sprays an arrow on the ground pointing toward the exit tunnel, then sprays EXIT. they continue on.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

They inspect the ovoid Egg Pods. Hunter shines his torch on the human nutrient cocoon Ralston discovered.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _What in God's name is this? There's a man in that unholy mess, Martinez what do you make of this?_

Martinez runs scans on the cocoon.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _It's not Takamura is it? How could he get so messed up so quick?_

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _No. It Is...was human, but it's been here thousands of years._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Why hasn't it decomposed?_

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Something to do with whatever this material it's been coccooned with, I guess._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _How in hell did people get here thousands of years ago?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Abducted by UFO's Corp._

Hunter is circling the chamber inspecting the other pods. He discovers three more "human" cocoons, the occupants are all dessicated mummies, not intact like the first one.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _These ones look like they've been sucked dry._

Martinez traces the "feeding tubes" from the cocoons to their source. They run into organic machines above the ovoid pods and then are inserted into the pods. He scans the pods.

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _It's organic, the cocoons must be a food source for whatever is growing in these pods. The first one must still be intact because it's feeding tubes detached somehow._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Christ, then what the hell is growing in these other pods? this one is empty._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _I propose we leave the scientific investigation to the company. Let's just find our people and get back to the ship, we're lifting off as soon as we return._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _There's nine exits from this chamber so that means anyone of eight tunnels they could have gone down. We can split up and search tunnel by tunnel._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _No, It might save time but it increases the risk of someone else getting lost. I want a volunteer to stay here in case they come back. We'll search in pairs tunnel by tunnel._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _I'll stay here Captain._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Alright, Martinez you're with me. We'll start at the entrance and work our way around. Taylor you and Vossler take the right and we'll take the left. Mark your route and check your corners._

Voight unslings his motion tracker.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL RIGHT

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _You weren't wrong when you called this place Hell. I just wanta find 'em and get out of here._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _It aint so bad, you've obviously never been to New York._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Are you ever serious Vossler?_

Suddenly their motion trackers begin to beep loudly. Vossler unslings his and checks the readout.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _We got movement. Sixty metres, coming this way._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Is it them?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Can't tell, it's not a clean signal, too much interference._

He racks the action of his pulse rifle.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Let's go find out._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL LEFT

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Nothing on the motion tracker, no heat trace._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Hold up a minute Martinez, what do you make of all this? What do you think is growing in those pods?_

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Some type of lifeform, though I couldn't even hazard a guess as to what it could be._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _I didn't want to bring this up in front of the others. After you left the ship, we picked up a distress signal from a downed Earth vessel. Broussard and I went to investigate the possibility that there were survivors in Hypersleep, the ship having landed here 40 years ago. What we found...Jesus...the survivors had been infected by some sort of parasitical contagion, there was nothing remotely human left alive...just an organism in their hypersleep capsules. Is it possible Ralston and Takamura ran into something similar? Or ended up in one of those cocoons?_

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _I don't know Captain. I don't have enough information about this place, so I can only speculate on what we've seen so far, If we don't find them within the time limit I seriously recommend we take off as soon as possible. We have one ET alive in stasis, just because we've found nothing else alive, doesn't mean it's not here._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _That's what worries me. Let's keep moving there's another chamber up ahead._

They move on.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - CLONE BABY FARM

Hunter and Martinez enter the chamber. Behind transparent membranes, immersed in a sickly greyish yellow fluid are human babies. Hundreds of them in recesses around the chamber. They look almost identical, they appear to be dead with eyes closed.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Christ, this just gets worse and worse._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _They're alive Captain, in deep stasis but alive. What the hell is this place?_

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Keep moving._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL RIGHT

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _The signal's coming from up ahead, stay behind me._

He aims his weapon. A spacesuited figure stumbles toward them.

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _It's Takamura thank God._

Vossler lowers his Pulse rifle.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _I'm sure glad to see you buddy, where's Ralston?_

Takamura is clearly disoriented and confused.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I...I...don't know._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _Take it slow Hiroshi, what happened to you?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I...must have...passed out._

VOSSLER. V.O

 _Look, there's a Tempseal patch on his suit, he must have torn it when he blacked out._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _He can't have been out for long or he would have lost all his O2. Where's Ralston, Hiroshi? Did she patch your suit?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I don't...remember, we were together...then...I don't know._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _He probably hit his head when he fell, he might have a concussion. Let's go on, she can't be far away._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - QUEEN CHAMBER

Hunter and Martinez enter a large chamber, the entrance is covered by a curtain of the blue mist.

Immersed in the sickly yellow/grey stasis fluid, behind a transparent membrane, is a large creature. Sixteen feet tall, insectoid, black exoskeleton, a large crest on top of it's elongated, eyeless head.

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _I believe this is related to one of the species whose remains we found outside the hibernation vault. Even though this is twice the size of those creatures, it shares common characteristics such as the elongated head, no eyes, exoskeleton._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _It looks like a giant bug._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _It could well be an insectoid lifeform, I would need to study it closely before I could be sure._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _We'll leave that for the company expedition, our priority is recovering our missing crew._

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _I've gathered enough data to keep me busy for years Captain._

They begin to search the large chamber.

CLOSE UP ON:

In a dark recess, more Egg mutation pods are hooked up to their nutrient cocoons. The Pods begin to palpitate gently.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

Voight is walking the perimeter. His motion tracker begins to beep rapidly, he scans the tunnel orifices. As he scans the tunnel Vossler and Taylor entered it goes ballistic. He racks the action of his Pulse Rifle and stands ready.

CLOSE UP ON:

TUNNEL ORIFICE

Vossler and Taylor emerge carrying Ralston's limp body, Takamura follows them. Voight lowers his weapon.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _We found 'em Corp._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Is she dead? What happened to her?_

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _She's unconscious but alive._

They lower her gently to the ground. Voight kneels beside her and sees her helmet is compromised and the parasite attached to her face.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _What the fuck is that? How is she breathing?_

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _I'm not sure. To hazard a guess I'd say that thing is extracting oxygen from the atmosphere and feeding it to her._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _What happened Takamura?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _I don't remember...I think I passed out._

TAYLOR. V.O.

 _He might have a concussion, he was pretty out of it when we found him._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _We've gotta get her back to the Med Bay ASAP. The Captain aint back yet?_

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Not yet. OK, Takamura how're you feeling now?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _Alright I guess, a hell of a hangover._

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Vossler, you and Takamura get Ralston back to the Rover and head for the ship. Taylor, you're with me we're going after the Captain._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _See you back at the ship._

They pick up Ralston and head for the tunnel. Voight and Taylor move out after the Captain and Martinez.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - QUEEN CHAMBER

Hunter and Martinez are searching the large chamber, Hunter shines his torch into a dark recess.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _OK, there's no other exits from this chamber, we've hit a dead end. We'll head back to Voight's position._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - QUEEN CHAMBER

CLOSE UP ON:

EGG MUTATION PODS

The pods are pulsating as the Mutant Facehuggers are struggling to hatch from their eggs. One by one they are breaking free.

Hunter and Martinez are heading for the exit when Martinez' motion tracker begins to beep. He scans the large chamber.

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Got multiple signals, can't lock in too much interference._

Hunter racks the action of his Pulse Rifle.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Get back to the entrance, we're too exposed._

CUT TO:

One of the mutant Facehuggers is crawling along the ceiling of the chamber toward the two men. As they reach the exit Martinez sees the movement and looks up. The creature drops onto his helmet visor which starts to smoke and bubble. He screams and tries to dislodge the creature,

MARTINEZ. V.O.

 _Get it off._

Hunter goes to his aid, but more of the mutant facehuggers are attacking, he opens fire on them. Martinez' screams are choked off.

CLOSE UP ON:

Three of the creatures are cut to pieces by Pulse Rifle fire.

Hunter drags Martinez through the exit. More Facehuggers are advancing. Hunter lays Martinez down and cocks his grenade launcher, he launches two grenades in rapid sucession into the chamber and dives to the ground as they explode. The facehuggers have been blown to pieces. He kneels by Martinez and sees the parasite has penetrated his visor and is attached to his face.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL LEFT

Voight and Taylor are shaken by the concussion from the explosions.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Shit they were grenades, move it._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

The Egg mutation pods are rocked by the concussion from the explosions, the curtain of blue mist that covers the niches shimmers out and is gone. The pods begin to palpitate gently.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING

McAndrews is performing routine maintenance when the intercom buzzes.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _Randall we've got a situation. The search team are bringing Ralston back, she's been attacked by some kind of parasite. I need you to unship the quarantine med pods and load them into the aft cargo lock._

McANDREWS.

 _Ye'll only fit four of 'em in at once and still have room in the lock for six people._

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _Four will do, I'm hoping we'll only need the one, it's just a precaution, the Captain,Voight,Taylor and Martinez are still in there._

McANDREWS

 _OK boss I'm on it._

BROUSSARD. V.O. (Shipwide Intercom)

 _Mr. Krahe report to the bridge. The search team are returning to the ship._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - DAY

The Rover is returning to the Kurtz.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - HANGAR BAY

McAndrews straps himself into a bipedal Caterpillar Power Loader exo frame. Locking his boots into the locomotion feedback pedals, he activates the forklift handgrips and begins to unload the Med Pods and load them into the cargo lock.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Krahe enters the bridge and goes to the comms. console.

KRAHE.

 _Krahe to search team. Situation report, what is your status?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Ralston was attacked by some sort of parasite, it's attached to her face. We gotta get her into the Autodoc._

KRAHE.

 _Copy that. Standby... Why wasn't I informed immediately that a team member was exposed to a biohazard? They can't bring her aboard ship, we would all be exposed._

BROUSSARD.

 _I've got McAndrews unloading the Quarantine med pods into the aft cargo lock. Once she's quarantined we can decontaminate the lock and bring her in._

KRAHE.

 _Where's the Captain?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain Hunter, Martinez, Voight and Taylor are still inside the structure._

KRAHE.

 _Computer seal all airlocks, authorisation code follows._

He enters a code.

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _All airlocks sealed._

BROUSSARD.

 _What are you doing? We can't leave them out there. Once she's quarantined there won't be any danger to the ship._

KRAHE.

 _You don't know that. It's an alien parasite we don't know what it's capable of._

BROUSSARD.

 _I'm First Officer, when the Captain's not aboard I'm in charge. It's my call._

KRAHE.

 _Company regulations give me the authority, that's why I have the override codes. We'll wait until the Captain returns._

KELLY.

 _It would be a different story if it was you out there you sonofabitch._

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL LEFT

Voight and Taylor find Hunter dragging Martinez' unconscious body along the tunnel.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Taylor grab his feet, we've gotta get out of here. Voight cover our rear, let's move._

They move out, Voight covering.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - USCSS KURTZ - AFT CARGO LOCK.

The Rover is pulled up next to the Kurtz. Vossler presses the control to open the airlock. A red light shows on the panel, he tries again with the same result.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _What the fuck? the airlock won't open. Broussard we can't access the airlock._

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _I'm sorry Kurt, Krahe has sealed all airlocks, and we don't have the override codes._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Krahe you bastard, we've got a woman here who needs urgent medical attention. Open the goddamn airlock._

KRAHE. V.O.

 _Negative Private. We'll wait for the Captain to return._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _She could be dead by then. Let us in or you are gonna seriously regret it when I get my hands on you._

KRAHE. V.O.

 _Don't threaten me Private, I'll put you on a charge and you'll forfeit all shares and mission bonuses._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Screw you. Takamura switch radio frequency to suit channel only._

They switch frequencies.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _What are we gonna do?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _We're getting in. Don't worry I've got a few tricks up my sleeve._

Vossler takes a small pack from a pouch on his combat spacesuit. He removes a screw gun and unscrews the airlock control panel. He takes wires from the device and alligator clips them onto terminals inside the control panel.

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _What are you doing?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Running a bypass. I wouldn't be much of a marine if I couldn't access a sealed airlock._

He manipulates the device for a few minutes until suddenly the access light changes from red to green and the airlock outer hatch begins to open.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _And that is how we do that. Alright let's get her inside._

They pick up Ralston's limp body from the passenger module of the Rover. Takamura stumbles slightly as they enter the airlock.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _You OK Hiroshi?_

TAKAMURA. V.O.

 _No I feel terrible, got a blinding headache._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Let's get her into a pod and we'll get ya to the Med Bay._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _Aft cargo airlock seal breached._

KRAHE.

 _How the hell did they open a sealed airlock?_

Krahe leaves the bridge.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AFT CARGO AIRLOCK

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Decontamination Complete. Pressurising Airlock._

After a few minutes the inner airlock door opens. Vossler and Takamura now minus their helmets and gloves, push out the mobile quarantine pod containing Ralston. Krahe is waiting there with a pistol in his hand.

KRAHE.

 _That's far enough. Put her back in the airlock._

VOSSLER.

 _Or what? You gonna shoot us? Does the Captain know you've got an unauthorised firearm aboard ship?_

Vossler moves closer to Krahe who levels the weapon at him.

KRAHE.

 _I mean it, come any closer and I'll shoot you down._

VOSSLER.

 _Pretty strict penalties for firing projectile weapons aboard ship._

At that moment Takamura groans and falls to the deck unconscious. Krahe's attention is momentarily diverted and Vossler strikes, grabbing Krahe's gun arm, he forces it up until the gun is pointing toward the ceiling. He slams his knee into Krahe's groin, who drops the gun and slumps to his knees. Vossler kicks the gun away down the corridor.

VOSSLER.

 _Point a gun at me you sonofabitch._

He grabs Krahe by the shirt with his left hand and lands three quick jabs into his face, he drops him to the floor bleeding.

VOSSLER.

 _That's for Ralston._

Vossler goes to a comm. panel.

VOSSLER.

 _Broussard, Takamura's passed out and Krahe's face had a disagreement with my fist. Could you send someone down to help me get 'em to the Med Bay?_

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _Will do, Mike's on his way down and McAndrews is securing the power loader, he can help._

Vossler starts to take off the rest of his suit.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

The Captain and Taylor are carrying Martinez back toward the exit tunnel.

CLOSE UP ON:

The Scorpion Facehugger Egg pods are now pulsating rapidly. The feeding tubes detach violently and the mutant creatures tear their way free, hundreds of them begin to stalk the search team

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Go, get him out of here I'll cover the retreat._

Hunter takes Martinez' Flamethrower which he has had slung on his shoulder and hands it to Voight. Voight slings the flamethrower and fires his Pulse Rifle, two of the creatures are shot to bits, but they are everywhere, some on the walls, some crawling on the ceiling, others coming across the chamber floor. Voight tracks another one and fires. Backing toward the exit as he tracks targets and fires, taking down the creatures two or three at a time. Three creatures drop from the ceiling behind him blocking his retreat. He turns and shoots these, but more are advancing from all directions, he hoses the main pack with full auto supressive fire which cuts a swathe in those closest to him. He fires three round bursts at targets further away and backs closer to the exit, his ammo counter reaches zero and his rifle clicks on empty chambers.

VOIGHT. V.O.

 _Shit,shit,shit._

He drops the Pulse Rifle and unslings the Flamethrower, hosing flame from side to side in controlled bursts. Some of the creatures are incinerated, others retreat warily from the flames. Voight is only thirty metres from the exit.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

Hunter and Taylor are carrying Martinez back toward the exit tunnel.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Taylor, keep going with him, I'm going to make sure Voight's got cover._

Hunter heads back towards the Egg mutation chamber as Taylor drags Martinez backwards.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

Voight is twenty metres from the exit, retreating slowly, releasing controlled bursts. Hunter takes up a position at the exit and begins tracking and shooting stray targets.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _I've got your back, let's get moving._

At that moment one of the mutant Facehuggers drops from the ceiling behind Voight, he trips over it and goes down hard onto his back, the Flamethrower lands a few metres away. The creatures are on Voight in seconds, Hunter picks off those he can, but it is too late. Voight is buried under a mass of arachnoid horror, his body convulses as the creatures sting him again and again.

CLOSE UP ON:

Hunter, realising there is nothing he can do retreats after Taylor and Martinez. When he has gone a short distance he turns and fires a grenade back towards the Egg mutation chamber. He takes cover as the grenade explodes, and the concussion rocks the tunnel. Not waiting to see if any of the creatures are following he goes to catch up with Taylor.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - CORRIDOR

Kelly and McAndrews are returning to their stations.

KELLY.

 _As soon as the Captain's back we can get the hell off this rock._

McANDREWS.

 _What do you think that thing is?_

KELLY.

 _I don't know, but mabe Krahe was right. Company regs. say twenty four hours quarantine before shipboard access is allowed._

McANDREWS.

 _Don't let Vossler hear you say that, you might get a taste of what Krahe got._

KELLY.

 _Don't get me wrong, I know her only chance was to get her into the Autodoc. But what if that thing gets loose and attacks someone else?_

McANDREWS.

 _They should freeze her. Stop whatever that thing is doing to her until we get back to Earth._

KELLY.

 _Maybe hypersleep doesn't affect it._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

Vossler is plugging feeds from the Autodoc into Ralston's pod. Elias is still offline, lying prone on one of the Med Bay's two beds, Takamura is lying on the other, oxygen mask on his face, whilst Broussard inspects a bad bruise on his temple. Krahe is sitting in a chair holding an ice pack over his eyes and nose. As the Autodoc performs scans on the parasite, Broussard and Vossler study the readout.

BROUSSARD.

 _The X-Ray scan of the parasite is very indistinct, it must be impenetrable to X-Ray. Let's run a full spectrum analysis._

She taps away at a keyboard on the Autodoc control panel. The intercom activates.

KELLY. V.O.

 _Broussard i've got suit telemetry back for the Captain, Taylor and Martinez. Nothing on Voight's feed, Martinez' vital signs are very low. The storm is interfering with radio._

Broussard goes over to a comm. panel.

BROUSSARD.

 _OK, I'll get back to the bridge in 5. Alright people it sounds like Martinez may be injured, we need to clear some space in here._ I'll _give Krahe some pain meds and help him back to his cabin. Vossler you take Hiroshi back to his cabin, I'll check on him when the Captain's back on board, let's get him on a stretcher. What a time for our Medical Officer to be offline._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - LANDING SITE - DUSK

Hunter and Taylor carrying Martinez, are nearly back to the Kurtz. The closer they get, radio reception improves somewhat.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _Ku..z to Hunt.. We've .ot the af. ..argo lock set .. .s a quaranti.. ..ansfer, pod. are. ..ady ..es, repea. Aft car.. lock quarantine ...nsfer._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _Copy, Aft cargo lock._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

Vossler returns to check on Ralston. The Autodoc is running scans.

CLOSE UP ON:

Elias offline.

VOSSLER.

 _We could sure use your help about now buddy._

He presses controls on the Autodoc console, and addresses the computer.

VOSSLER.

 _What's the status of the diagnostic program?_

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _No errors detected. Diagnostic cycle complete in T minus 150 minutes._

He manipulates controls and brings up Ralston's X - Ray hologram display.

VOSSLER.

 _Holy shit._

CLOSE UP ON:

3D Spectrum scan hologram of Ralston's head and the parasite. The creature clearly has some sort of tube down her throat.

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - LANDING SITE - NIGHTFALL

The storm is getting stronger, the wind screams and howls around the ship.

FADE OUT.

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - EGG MUTATION CHAMBER

CLOSE UP ON:

Voight's body bloated by the enormous amounts of alien venom. In some places his bulging, blackened body has ruptured through his armoured combat spacesuit. The prone body is twitching and pulsating. Hideous groaning, too deep to be made by human vocal chords, emits from the ruined face. Bulges and protuberances stretch out the skin, the bones of the skull seeming to become soft and gelatinous, as the head expands in size. Long taloned fingers scratch and tear at the restrictive helmet. An inhuman strength tears and shatters the ceramisteel armoured helmet like brittle shards of light plastic. The distorted, ruin of a human being is wracked by uncontrolled seizures.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

Taylor is hooking Martinez' pod into the Autodoc, The Captain is briefing Broussard and Vossler on what took place.

HUNTER.

 _Once we had gotten Martinez out of there I went back for Voight, he would have made it if he hadn't tripped, once he went down they were all over him, there was nothing else I could do._

VOSSLER.

 _So you're sure he's dead?_

HUNTER.

 _He went down under hundreds of those things, they were stinging him over and over. If it wasn't for Voight none of us would have made it._

VOSSLER.

 _Fuck._

He slams his fist into an alloy med supply cabinet.

VOSSLER.

 _Even if he's dead I gotta go back in and get him, he wouldn't leave me in there._

HUNTER.

 _Stand down Private. I've already got five peole out of commision, one of them dead. I'm not losing anyone else, we're getting out of here. Broussard what's the status on Krahe and Takamura?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Krahe's got a broken nose and extensive bruising but he'll live. Takamura's got a concussion and he had a slight exposure to local atmosphere, but he should be OK._

HUNTER.

 _What about Elias? How long is he going to be offline?_

BROUSSARD.

 _The good news is no errors detected so far, but he's out of it for a couple of hours at least._

HUNTER.

 _Alright, we're not waiting around. Get McAndrews to start warming up the drive engines and secure the ship for lift off. Have Mr. Kelly start plotting our course back to Earth. I will join you on the bridge as soon as I have a little chat with Krahe, Mr. Vossler you're with me. Dismissed._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING

McAndrews is manipulating controls and checking readouts when Broussard comes through on the intercom.

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _McAndrews we're going home, start warming up the drive engines._

McANDREWS.

 _Will do boss, but we've got a small problem. I've got a red light on number two landing engine, just checking it out now...appears to be a vent jammed open, probably a leak in one of the hydraulic feeds._

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _How long until we can lift?_

McANDREWS.

 _Shouldn't take more than an hour and a half or so to trace it and fix it, so two, maybe three hours max._

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _Is there anything I can do to help?_

McANDREWS.

 _Aye, that might not be a bad idea, you keep an eye on the diagnostic program, and that'll free me up a bit. We'll save some time tracing the leak._

BROUSSARD. V.O.

 _OK, i'll be down in 5._

McAndrews opens an inspection panel and goes to work.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - KRAHE'S QUARTERS

Krahe is arguing with the Captain.

KRAHE.

 _Captain, that man assaulted me, I want him placed under arrest. I'm filing formal charges, he will face Court Martial when we return to Earth._

HUNTER.

 _I understand you sealed all airlocks and denied them access?_

KRAHE.

 _Under company regulations I have that authority. The rules state: 24 hours quarantine before shipboard access is allowed. He may have jeopardised the safety of everyone else by bringing that thing aboard._

VOSSLER.

 _She could have been dead in 24 hours, her only chance was to get her into the Autodoc._

KRAHE.

 _So you endanger the ship and all our lives to save one woman._

VOSSLER.

 _I'd trade your life for hers anyday, scumbag._

HUNTER.

 _It's a moot point now anyway, they're aboard. The risk to the ship is minimal, the quarantine pods will contain any infection._

KRAHE.

 _I hope you're right Captain._

HUNTER.

 _Mr. Vossler you're confined to quarters until further notice. Dismissed._

Vossler exits the cabin.

HUNTER.

 _Just for the record Krahe, I would have made the same call as Vossler._

KRAHE.

 _As you say, it's academic now. Captain I still have not received a report on what was discovered in the alien structure._

HUNTER.

 _We're prepping for lift off, a detailed report will have to wait._

KRAHE.

 _This is highly irregular. as company rep the decision to stay or go is mine. Based on what discoveries are made, I decide if the situation warrants further investigation._

HUNTER.

 _As Captain of this vessel I'm making the call to leave. We have one person dead and three injured, I will not put this ship or crew at risk a moment longer than necessary._

KRAHE.

 _My authority is vested in me by the company, whose interests have largely been ignored. I will be lodging a formal complaint when we return._

HUNTER.

 _That is your prerogative. just stay the hell out of the crews way until we have lifted._

Hunter turns his back on Krahe and leaves the cabin.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - HIBERNATION CHAMBER

CLOSE UP ON:

The Sarcophagus stasis pod of the lone surviving Elephantine, exoskeletal being. The bizzare organic machinery starts to emit unearthly, biomechanical sounds. Tubes detach, the grinding of insane mechanisms ruptures the silence. The Sarcophagus begins to open. The creature is awakening.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - HANGAR BAY - SUIT LOCKER

Vossler has ignored the Captain's order confining him to quarters. Suited up, he uses the device he opened the airlock with, he opens the Weapons locker and takes a Pulse Rifle and ammo. He enters the small access airlock, as the hangar bay is open to the planetary atmosphere. Taylor has gone out to retrieve the Rover. Entering the hangar bay, he opens another storage compartment with his device. He begins to load cylindrical canisters into the cargo compartment of a four wheeled ATV.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

CLOSE UP ON:

Martinez' holographic display. A 3D spectrum scan of his chest. The legend reads:

Foreign Body Detected. Analysing.

FADE OUT.


	2. Chapter 2

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Hunter, Kelly and Taylor are on the bridge. Broussard and McAndrews enter.

BROUSSARD.

 _We're good to go Captain, number two landing engine is functional._

HUNTER.

 _Good work. McAndrews, do you think you can pull any files off this?_

He hands McAndrews the data stick he retrieved from the dead astronaut.

McANDREWS.

 _Where the hell did you find this antique?_

HUNTER.

 _Alright, I'd better bring everyone up to speed. After the survey team went EVA we picked up a distress signal from a downed Earth vessel stranded here 41 years ago. Broussard and I went EVA to investigate the possibility of survivors in hypersleep. What we found...Jesus. Some form of organism had penetrated their capsules, the two survivors had been...absorbed. There was nothing human left alive._

TAYLOR.

 _Was there anything in the ship's log about what happened to them?_

HUNTER.

 _I was unable to download the logs, the power failed. On the return to the Kurtz we found the corpse of one of the Leviathan's crew, I was hoping we might get some answers from his data stick._

McAndrews examines the hand scanner/data recorder, he takes a tool from a pouch on his coveralls and begins tinkering with the device. He goes over to a console and taking a lead he inserts it into the now open device and taps away on a keyboard.

TAYLOR.

 _What was the organism Captain? The same thing that attacked Ralston and Martinez?_

HUNTER.

 _I don't think so, there seemed to be some sort of blight infecting that region of the city. I think it penetrated the Leviathan after the airlock seals had deteriorated due to long exposure to local atmosphere._

KELLY.

 _The computer has detected chemicals in the atmosphere it can't identify, some form of industrial pollution._

BROUSSARD.

 _We're not going to be here long enough for it to be a threat, besides, this region of the city appears to be free of the blight._

McAndrews has gotten an image up on his monitor, it is very grainy and dark.

McANDREWS.

 _Alright I've got something, this thing is badly corroded but the hard drive is fairly well shielded. This technology was obsolete 30 years ago._

He puts the image up on the main viewscreen.

HUNTER.

 _Can you clean it up any?_

McANDREWS.

 _Give me a few minutes Captain._

He begins to run enhancement programs. They run for 5 minutes and the playback is ready.

McANDREWS.

 _OK here we go, 20 minutes of video and audio files._

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP ON:

The main viewscreen.

Helmet Cam POV.

An airlock outer door opens, a view of the Biomech city is revealed.

STANDARD. V.O.

 _Oh My God._

FAUST. V.O.

 _I don't think God had anything to do with this place. Captain we are heading out to investigate the signal source._

VOLKER. V.O.

 _Copy that, radio check every 15 minutes._

The team move out, taking in the bizarre sights of the alien city. For 10 minutes the crew walk through the city, commenting on aspects of the alien architecture. Suddenly the astronaut 15 metres ahead of Faust vanishes, one second he is there the next he is gone.

FAUST. V.O.

 _What the hell? Standard do you copy?...Standard respond please..._

Faust reaches the place where Standard disappeared, he sees what looks like an organic manhole cover, well camouflaged amid the biomech landscape.

FAUST. V.O.

 _I think there is some sort of tunnel under this thing, help me lever it open._

One of the crew takes a pry bar from his utility belt and inserts it under the trapdoor, the Leviathan crew struggle to raise the cover. As they succeed hideous screams flood their transcievers.

STANDARD. V.O.

 _HELP MEEEEE...OH GOD...GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF...AAAARRRRGGGHH..._

FAUST POV

The Pit Interior.

A hideous insectoid alien lifeform, a biomech centipede bigger than a man is devouring Standard alive. The astronauts drop the trap cover in shock.

DAMON. V.O.

 _FUCK ME._

SCOTT. V.O.

 _WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE._

Damon runs blindly in panic, everyone is yelling. As Faust watches Damon is snatched from below, the insectoid has him but his oxygen tanks snag on the rim of the creature's tunnel. Damon is screaming incoherently.

Grissom close to him, grabs Damon and is trying to pull him back, the strength of the creature is overwhelming.

GRISSOM. V.O.

 _Faust help me, I can't hold him._

Faust tries to help pull Damon back out of the tunnel but the creature is too strong, Damon disappears into the creature's lair, when the trapdoor springs closed, his screams are abruptly cut off.

FAUST. V.O.

 _There's nothing we can do, get back to the ship._

The crew run off and one by one they are picked off by the alien centipedes. The image is bouncing wildly as Faust, now panicking, runs for his life.

FAUST. V.O. (Breathing hard)

 _Oh fuck...oh fuck..._

He runs back toward the Leviathan, it seems as if he was lucky and has escaped the ambush predators. Suddenly he trips over an unseen obstacle and goes down hard. His visor smashes on an obstruction. The picture is now black and as the Kurtz' crew listen Faust chokes to death on the toxic atmosphere. The playback finishes.

CUT TO:

The stunned Kurtz crewmembers are whitefaced with shock. No one speaks.

HUNTER. (With grim determination)

 _Snap out of it people, we are leaving. Everyone secure for take off, we lift in 45 minutes._

Hunter goes to the Pilot's console and starts running the automated pre - launch system checks. Broussard approaches him.

HUNTER.

 _You OK?_

BROUSSARD.

 _My skin is crawling and I've got the cold sweats, I keep thinking how close we came to being bug food. Why do you think we weren't attacked?_

HUNTER.

 _Blind luck? We came from a different route than the Leviathan's crew took, maybe the creatures were only in that one area. We're OK that's all that counts, try not to think about it. I need you to check on Takamura and Krahe, make sure they are secured for lift off._

BROUSSARD.

 _Aye Sir._

HUNTER.

 _We'll be underway within the hour, we'll never have to see this hellhole ever again._

BROUSSARD.

 _I'll be alright Captain._

HUNTER.

 _That's my girl. Where would I be without you? Let's go home._

FADE OUT.


	3. Chapter 3

INT. USCSS KURTZ – BRIDGE

Hunter, Kelly and Broussard are strapped in, the ship is shaking as the landing engines build up to full power.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Ignition in T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1_

CUT TO _:_

EXT. LV 427 – LANDING SITE – NIGHT

The ship is rising slowly as the exhaust from the powerful landing engines belches flame across the biomech landscape.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ – BRIDGE

HUNTER.

 _I'm reading a 15 percent drop in pressure in L.E. manifold 2._

McANDREWS V.O.

 _Compensating, increasing feed rate on manifold 2 by 15 percent._

HUNTER.

 _All systems nominal to profile, Inertial dampers online._

BROUSSARD.

 _Trans orbital insertion in T minus 2 minutes._

The steady roar of the landing engines is interrupted by an intermittent cut out.

An alarm sounds on the bridge.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _WARNING POWER LEVEL DROPPING IN L.E. MANIFOLD 2._

HUNTER.

 _I thought you fixed that engine McAndrews._

McANDREWS. V.O.

 _Aye Captain that we did, but we didn't have the time to disconnect and bleed all the feed lines, that would have taken us a month. I'm increasing manifold pressure by 50 percent, that should clear the lines._

The engine is still misfiring as McAndrews increases pressure slowly, then the obstruction is clear and the engine's roar is once again uninterrupted.

HUNTER.

 _OK that did the trick. Engage artificial gravity._

BROUSSARD.

 _A.G. engaged, drive engines at full power, standing by._

CUT TO:

EXT. SPACE – LV 427 ORBIT

The Kurtz has achieved orbit.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ – BRIDGE

HUNTER.

 _Initiate Earth return trajectory Mr. Kelly._

Kelly inputs the command into the Nav-Com.

KELLY.

 _Course correction, burn starboard aft thruster, 60 seconds….OK we're in the pipe, engage drive engines, full power._

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain I've got a radar contact to starboard, moving damn fast._

HUNTER.

 _Where the hell did that come from?_

BROUSSARD.

 _LV 427, It's mirroring our trajectory._

CUT TO:

MAIN VIEWSCREEN.

The radar contact catches the Kurtz in seconds and in an instant the contact has passed the ship and disappeared.

HUNTER.

 _Can you slow that down and replay it?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Aye sir._

She manipulates controls on her console.

CLOSE UP ON:

MAIN VIEWSCREEN.

In slow motion, the object accelerates out of orbit and approaches the Kurtz. It is the U shaped structure Broussard commented on during the EVA, it catches up with the Earth vessel and seems to hang in space momentarily, it then accelerates and disappears.

HUNTER.

 _Well that answers your question Broussard it was a vessel._

BROUSSARD.

 _I wonder what propulsion technology they use? It made us look like we were standing still._

HUNTER.

 _Good work everybody. Broussard, check on Elias, the diagnostic program should be complete soon. I had better try and smooth things over with Krahe, if he puts the crew on report we could all forfeit our shares and bonuses._

Broussard exits the bridge.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - TAKAMURA'S QUARTERS

CLOSE UP ON:

Takamura's face as he lays unconscious. His skin seems to be becoming translucent, strange organic growths are forming underneath. His hair is falling out in clumps, blisters filled with noxious fluids form and burst. The alien venom is coursing through veins turned black. He groans, a deep, inhuman sound.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

KELLY.

 _Captain, I'm receiving a radio transmission from the planet, It's being relayed through the probe. Patching it through._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Vossler to Kurtz, are you reading me?_

HUNTER.

 _Kurtz to Vossler. What the hell are you doing? I ordered you confined to quarters. How did you leave the ship without tripping any alarms?_

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _I'm a trained tech/comm Captain, we specialise in stealth infiltration and escape._

HUNTER.

 _Jesus Christ marine, we are on course back to Earth, we can't just turn around and come back for you._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _I know that Captain. I knew it was a suicide mission when I made my decision, I waited until the ship had lifted before I contacted you. I have chain linked ten seismic survey nukes and I am going to transport them into the pyramid and detonate. The company sends anyone else out to this shithole, all they're gonna find is radioactive rubble._

HUNTER.

 _For god's sake why private? We're going home._

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _I aint going back to Earth to face court martial. If Krahe has me charged with mutiny I'm facing the death sentence anyway. I'm doing it for Voight, he saved my life on our last mission, I owe it to him and for Ralston and Martinez, Ralston was….._

KELLY.

 _I've lost him Captain, we're out of range._

HUNTER.

 _What was the damn fool thinking, I could have persuaded Krahe to drop the charges._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 – PYRAMID ENTRANCE – NIGHT

Vossler drives the ATV loaded with nukes into the pyramid.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

Broussard is studying the readouts from the Autodoc diagnostic scans. She is puzzled by the readout from Ralston's scan. She switches to the view from the pod's internal camera but the picture is blank. She switches to the internal view from Martinez' pod, the parasite is no longer attached to his face, though he is still unconscious. She can see a partial view of the creature, it is on its back and its legs are drawn up and in towards the abdomen, it reminds Broussard of a dead spider.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Synthetic Diagnostic Program complete. No errors detected. All functions within normal parameters._

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP ON:

Elias. His eyes open and he sits up. Broussard begins disconnecting the feeds hooking him into the computer's diagnostic program.

BROUSSARD.

 _Welcome back, you don't know how glad I am to see you're alright._

ELIAS.

 _According to my internal chronometer I have been offline for five hours, thirty three minutes. I will need to be briefed on what has transpired whilst I was offline._

BROUSSARD.

 _Shit, what hasn't transpired my friend. First up I need you to check out Ralston and Martinez, they were attacked by parasites in the alien pyramid._

Elias stands up.

ELIAS.

 _The drive engines are functioning. We have left the planet?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Yeah, we've been in space for an hour, we're on the way home._

Elias goes over to the Autodoc console, he replays all the recorded data and it takes him 15 seconds to assimilate four hours of recorded information.

BROUSSARD.

 _I can't make sense of the scans from Ralston's pod and the interior camera has malfunctioned._

Elias checks the ceramisteel armored pod. It is entirely enclosed, the pods are designed to withstand the impact of a spaceship crash without releasing infectious organisms, the only view of the patient is from internal cameras. Elias checks all the feeds coming from the pod but they are all securely hooked up at both ends.

ELIAS.

 _Is the Captain on the bridge? I must speak with him immediately._

BROUSSARD.

 _Yeah, The Captain and Kelly are on the bridge_

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Broussard and Elias enter.

ELIAS.

 _Captain I need to talk to you and Ms. Broussard in private, most urgently._

HUNTER.

 _Take a break Mr. Kelly, go grab a coffee._

KELLY.

 _Aye sir._

Kelly leaves the bridge.

ELIAS.

 _I am declaring a state of emergency._

HUNTER.

 _Were you damaged in the pyramid?_

ELIAS.

 _Negative Captain, all my functions are within normal parameters. Before going offline I downloaded the data from the alien device into my external hard drive and a portion of the information has been processed and catalogued. Sir, Martinez is infected with an alien life form, it is extremely hostile and lethal within hours of birth, which is fatal to the host. I believe Ralston is similarly infected although the feeds from her pod appear to be malfunctioning. Captain in the interests of the welfare of the uninfected crewmembers, I must recommend that you eject their pods into space immediately._

HUNTER.

 _What the hell?_

Broussard stares at the synthetic incredulously.

HUNTER.

 _Can't you remove the organism surgically?_

ELIAS.

 _Not without endangering the patient and the ship. The life form has concentrated molecular acid for blood. These are the organisms responsible for the destruction of the alien outpost._

BROUSSARD.

 _There must be something we can do._

HUNTER.

 _There is. We hook their pods into the hypersleep system, freeze them and the organisms. They can remove them in a medical facility when we get back to Earth._

ELIAS.

 _I am not confident that the life form would be affected by hypersleep, the risk that the embryos would emerge whilst the crew is in stasis is too great. You would all be extremely vulnerable and would not survive. Furthermore it would not be advisable to return the organisms to Earth, once the infection was released it could not be contained._

HUNTER

 _Surely in a secure facility there wouldn't be a problem._

ELIAS.

 _The creatures managed to eradicate the outpost of a highly evolved alien species, equipped with advanced technology millions of years ahead of the human race. They were unable to contain the threat. Captain I could not recommend such an extreme course of action if it were not absolutely imperative, my behavioural inhibitors allow me to cause no harm to human beings and even though it is difficult to recommend such an action, my program allows for certain factors to be taken into consideration. Objectively the killing of two people who are fatally infected outweighs risking the lives of nine who are not. I of course would be unable to perform the ejection._

HUNTER.

 _I can't murder in cold blood two of my crew, fatally infected or not. There must be something we're not thinking of._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

An alarm sounds in the Med Bay.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _MEDICAL EMERGENCY...MEDICAL EMERGENCY_

The words echo through the empty Med Bay.

CLOSE UP ON:

Autodoc monitor: MEDICAL EMERGENCY. flashes red on and off.

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP ON:

Autodoc 3D display: Martinez' pod internal camera.

Martinez eyes open, he is concious. His face contorts, he is in extreme agony, the pod's IV feeds pump sedatives into his system to counter the massive adrenaline rush flooding his body and sending his metabolic rate off the scale. Martinez is thrashing blindly inside the pod, he stops momentarily and the crunch of a broken rib is heard, Martinez resumes his agonised thrashing until the sickening crunch of fracturing bones comes through on the audio feed, and the camera view is obscured by a spray of blood.

CLOSE UP ON:

Vital signs monitor. Martinez is now flatline.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE

Hunter, Elias and Broussard are still arguing the correct course of action.

BROUSSARD.

 _What about the shuttle? maneuver it a few klicks away from the ship and you could perform the surg..._

A strident alarm begins to sound.

COMPUTER V.O.

MEDICAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL OFFICER REPORT TO MED BAY. MEDICAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL OFFICER REPORT TO MED BAY.

HUNTER.

 _Shit._

They race out of the bridge.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

CLOSE UP ON:

Martinez' pod. A blackened, smoking hole in the side of the armored pod. Three trails of blood and entrails lead from the smoking hole and disappear into a drainage grate in the Med Bay deck.

CLOSE UP ON:

The Grate.

FADE OUT.


	4. Chapter 4

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - TUNNEL

Vossler is driving the nuke laden ATV back to where Voight was attacked, he guides the machine over piles of debris dislodged by Hunter's exploding grenade and into the Mutation chamber. He maneuvers the ATV over the burnt/shot remains of the mutant Facehuggers and as the vehicle progresses into the large chamber the tyres begin to smoke, the acid from the dead creatures is eating into the steel belt reinforced heavy duty rubber. Vossler parks the ATV on a clear section of the chamber floor and dismounts.

CLOSE UP ON:

Vossler is inspecting the place where Voight was obviously attacked. He picks up the discarded flamethrower and begins to look around the chamber.

CLOSE UP ON:

The smoking tyres of the ATV. Two of them blow out explosively as they are eaten through by the potent acid, the ATV settles on the flat tyres and the other two blow also.

Vossler has searched the large chamber but there is no sign of Voight's body, he returns to the ATV and begins arming the chain linked nukes.

CUT TO:

INT. LV 427 - PYRAMID - MUTATION CHAMBER - TUNNEL ORIFICE

Behind Vossler hundreds of the mutant facehuggers are spilling out of the tunnel that leads to the Queen chamber, some are the "Scorpion" creatures others are the type that attacked Martinez, they spread out over the chamber. Vossler's motion tracker beeps insistently and he whirls around, Pulse Rifle levelled.

CUT TO:

VOSSLER'S POV.

The chamber is covered by an Arachnoid carpet. The creatures are now motionless except for their tails, they are waving back and forth in unison, slowly undulating like a field of wheat in a gentle breeze. The eyeless creatures appear to be "watching" Vossler.

CUT TO:

TUNNEL ORIFICE

A bipedal humanoid creature enters the chamber, nine feet tall; elongated, ribbed, eyeless head; skin the same greyish yellow as the mutant Facehuggers; the limbs are distended and deformed; cancerous growths leak noxious pus. The mutant Facehuggers part ranks to let the tall creature pass and close ranks behind it, an extraterrestrial Moses parting the sea of creatures before it. The tall mutant stops 10 metres in front of Vossler.

CLOSE UP ON:

The Extraterrestrial Biped. The creature is clad in the tattered remnants of a combat spacesuit still bearing the name tag: Voight.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Corp? Is that you? What the fuck did they do to you?_

CLOSE UP ON:

The hybrid cocks its head to one side quizzically, eerily reminiscent of a dog. It begins to advance on Vossler. He raises his Pulse Rifle and aims it at the advancing mutant.

VOSSLER. V.O.

 _Oh fuck Corp, I'm sorry, I should never have left ya in here._

He backs up a few steps away from the advancing mutated Voight. The mutant is getting closer to Vossler and he opens fire hitting the creature in its torso, the Voight mutant staggers but keeps advancing. Vossler opens fire on full auto and the hybrid is hit by multiple rounds, it staggers and reels and as the caseless rounds punch holes in the creature's head Vossler is hit by a spray of the mutant's acid blood.

CLOSE UP ON:

Vossler. The powerful acid immediately begins melting through his spacesuit and visor. The mutant Facehuggers erupt into action and advance on Vossler who reaches the ATV before the creatures can reach him. The acid burns through his visor.

SUIT COMPUTER. V.O.

 _WARNING SUIT INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. OXYGEN DEPLETION IN T - MINUS TWO MINUTES._

Vossler grabs the trigger for the chain linked nukes, he is wheezing heavily and struggling to breathe as his escaping oxygen supply mixes with the toxic atmosphere. The mutant creatures swarm over him and Vossler yells defiantly as he triggers the nukes.

VOSSLER.

 _SEMPER FI MOTHERFUCKERS..._

CUT TO:

EXT. LV 427 - AERIAL VIEW.

The pyramid and a large section of the surrounding Biomech city are vapourised in the nuclear explosion.

CLOSE UP ON:

A massive mushroom cloud expands into the atmosphere.

FADE OUT.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MED BAY

Hunter, Broussard and Elias rush into the Med - Bay. Elias goes to the Autodoc console and inputs commands, the computer warning shuts off and he inspects the readouts and camera feeds from Martinez' pod. Hunter and Broussard are inspecting the smoking hole in the side of the armoured pod as well as the trails of blood leading into the deck grille.

ELIAS.

 _Martinez is deceased. The embryo's development was more advanced than I expected._

He joins the others.

ELIAS.

 _It appears that the parasite implanted multiple embryos._

He replays the video files from Martinez' pod after the medical emergency was declared. They watch Martinez' agonised thrashing and hear the crunch of breaking ribs as the camera is obscured by a spray of blood. Hunter brings up the Med - Bay surveillance cam files and replays from the point where Martinez' medical emergency began.

CUT TO:

MONITOR SCREEN

Surveillance cam footage of the Med - Bay plays until the motion sensors detect wisps of smoke rising from the side of the med pod. A small hole appears and steadily grows in size, until three organisms are visible: They are limbless and have the appearance of eyeless snakes, two of the creatures hiss at each other and the crew see that they have mouths filled with metallic teeth. The creatures slip out of the smoking hole and disappear into the floor grate.

CUT TO:

The corridor outside the Med - Bay. Concerned crew members are gathering.

Hunter looks over at Ralston's pod and comes to a decision. He addresses the crew.

HUNTER.

 _Listen up people. Martinez is dead, he and Ralston were infected with alien spores by the parasites that attacked them. Ralston is still alive but the prognosis is terminal._

He inputs commands into the Autodoc control console and replays the video feed of Martinez' demise. The crew are stunned.

HUNTER.

 _I am now switching off the life support for Ralston's pod. I won't let her suffer needlessly. Computer this is Captain Hunter, discontinue life support for med - pod 001. Authorisation follows._

He inputs the code into the Autodoc console.

COMPUTER. V.O.

 _Quarantine Med - Pod KP001 Life Support Terminated. Powering Down. Disconnect All Feeds._

The crew bow their heads in respect as the legend: LIFE SUPPORT TERMINATED flashes on and off in red on the Autodoc monitor.

After a short silence Hunter speaks.

HUNTER.

 _Broussard, Kelly, break out Tasers, Shock stunners and motion trackers. All crewmembers report to the Hangar bay immediately. Mr. Elias I want all the information on the aliens that has been processed so far, I need to know exactly what we're dealing with._

ELIAS.

 _Aye Sir._

Hunter goes to a comm panel and hits the button for the shipwide intercom

HUNTER.

 _All crew report to hangar bay immediately, repeat all crew report to hangar bay immediately._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - TAKAMURA'S QUARTERS

CLOSE UP ON:

Hunter's voice echoes through an empty cabin, Takamura is nowhere to be seen. His bunk is covered in blood and gelatinous alien slime from his metamorphosis by the Scorpion creature's venom. The uniform he was wearing is in tatters on the bunk and the deck.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - KRAHE'S QUARTERS

HUNTER. V.O.

 _All crew report to hangar bay immediately, repeat all crew report to hangar bay immediately._

Krahe black - eyed and bruised closes the laptop he was perusing and stands up. He walks over to the hatch, presses the control and it slides open.

CLOSE UP ON:

KRAHE'S POV.

The Takamura Hybrid is standing there, its limbs are grossly distended, The eyes have been absorbed, the head is elongated and ribbed, its skin has become a sickly yellow colour and is covered in cancerous ulcerations, ribbed tubes carry foul liquids throughout Takamura's mutated body.

CLOSE UP ON:

Krahe whimpers with fear as he takes in the monstrosity standing before him. He is shaking in terror.

CLOSE UP ON:

Krahe's feet. A small puddle of urine forms as his bladder voids.

The hybrid reaches out its arms and pushes Krahe back into the cabin, it has to bend down to enter as the mutant is now nearly 9 feet tall.

CLOSE UP ON:

The mutant's head. The jaws open, dripping slime, the lower jaw distends and a large cylindrical tongue tastes the air.

CUT TO:

Holding Krahe by the upper arms, his feet dangling a foot above the deck. the hybrid's tongue seems to be scenting Krahe Suddenly it becomes semi rigid and plunges into Krahe's mouth and down his throat. The hybrid seems to be regurgitating, it is pumping some form of alien bile down his throat. Krahe is gagging and choking, his eyes wide. The tongue is removed and Krahe retches small amounts of hideous ooze. The hybrid, almost gently, lays him down on the deck. Turning its head, as if sensing something it issues a hissing, high pitched screech and runs out the hatch.

CLOSE UP ON:

Krahe, laying on the deck, vile alien mucus streaming from his mouth. His face is turning a yellowish grey as he slips into unconsciousness.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - HANGAR BAY

The Captain, Elias and Taylor are gathered for the briefing. McAndrews enters followed by Broussard and Kelly wheeling a trolley laden with shock stunners, Comms headsets, tasers and motion trackers.

HUNTER.

 _We now have three hostile organisms aboard ship. We need to search the ship, find these things and eject them into space ASAP. Mr Elias you have the floor, what exactly are these things?_

ELIAS.

 _As I explained earlier Captain these organisms are lethal and extremely hostile within hours of birth and their overriding biological imperatives are survival and reproduction. They possess concentrated molecular acid for blood, which in an enclosed environment such as a spaceship precludes the use of any sort of weapon that inflicts penetrating injuries._

HUNTER.

 _Stunners and tasers only. Hopefully we can find them before they reach maturity, Mr. Elias any background info would be helpful._

ELIAS.

 _The Pyramid structure on LV 427 was a Bio - Weapons research and development facility of a race of beings I have labeled Bio Engineers. They were an ancient race long before life arose on Earth, colonising many systems throughout the galaxy. The Bio Engineer race was divided into two "Factions". One I will describe as "Benevolent", the other "Cruel and Vengeful". These descriptions are vague approximations only as their true motivations and agendas are entirely unfathomable by any human frames of reference, they are beyond good and evil. Countless millennia ago these two factions waged a galactic civil war._

HUNTER.

 _And they created these organisms as weapons?_

ELIAS.

 _Not created, discovered. The parasitic lifeform hereby referred to as the Xenomorph is a naturally evolved organism. The Bio Engineers mutate existing life forms through gene splicing, powerful mutagens and their organic biomechanoid technology. They were experimenting on the Xenomorph to produce more destructive variations. Approximately three thousand years ago a Xenomorph outbreak took place on LV 427, the Bio Engineers were decimated and the survivors of the outbreak placed themselves in stasis in a secure hibernation vault. They sent out the distress/warning signal and awaited rescue which never arrived. One by one the stasis units were shut down as the power supply failed until only one survivor remained._

TAYLOR.

 _There were people in that pyramid._

ELIAS.

 _Clones. Bred from stock abducted from Earth thousands of years ago. It appears that the "Benevolent" Bio Engineers visited Earth in prehistoric times and possibly gave the primitive primates they encountered a helping hand up the evolutionary ladder._

TAYLOR. (With a cynical laugh).

 _So "God" was an Alien species all along. Organised religion isn't going to like this much, they're all out of a job._

HUNTER.

 _What about the things that attacked the Leviathan's crew? The organism that penetrated the survivor's capsules?_

ELIAS.

 _The insectoid predators were previous experiments that escaped their stasis chamber after the Xenomorph outbreak and I believe the "Fungal" organism is native to LV 427 but mutated by exposure to toxic wastes. Captain, information was exchanged when I was short circuited by the Bio Engineer communication device. The sole survivor is a member of the "Evil" faction, it is aware of the death of its fellow survivors and is now piloting his craft to the homeworld of his enemies with a cargo of Xenomorph eggs. After exacting its "Revenge" on its "Enemies" it intends to visit Earth and sterilise it of all life through Xenomorph infestation._

HUNTER.

 _Vossler took care of the eggs on LV 427, they're radioactive dust now._

ELIAS.

 _Unfortunately Captain the Bio Engineers also had a weapons storage facility on LV 426, stocked with tens of thousands of eggs. As well as the fact that a Xenomorph infestation will produce a number of Queens capable of laying hundreds of eggs each._

HUNTER.

 _Is there anything that can help us find these things and get them off my ship?_

ELIAS.

 _The creatures are vulnerable to fire and will retreat from it like any animal. Projectile weapons would be effective in an environment where conservation of atmosphere was not a consideration. I am unsure as to the effectiveness of stunners and tasers. I can offer no other constructive advice except that we only have hours to find the newborn embryos before they reach maturity._

HUNTER.

 _OK people let's move like we've got a purpose. 3 teams. Broussard and I will take the flight deck. Elias and Taylor take the quarter deck, I need you to round up Krahe and Takamura, if they're too out of it give them a shot of stimulants. McAndrews and Kelly you've got the engineering deck. I'm loath to use flamethrowers aboard ship but we've got no choice. Find these things, herd them to the nearest airlock and eject their slimy asses into space. Go._

The crew all take a taser, shock stunner, comms headset and motion tracker from the trolley. Hunter goes to the hangar bay weapons locker and hands a flamethrower to McAndrews, Elias and takes one for himself _._

HUNTER.

 _Use those flamethrowers carefully, short bursts, the last thing we need is a fire aboard ship. Everybody stay frosty and we'll nail these fuckers, move out._

The search teams head out for their assigned decks.

FADE OUT.


	5. Chapter 5

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING DECK

McAndrews and Kelly are searching engineering, McAndrews is armed with a flamethrower and Kelly is scanning with a motion tracker, shock stunner in his other hand.

KELLY.

 _Jesus, there's a million places down here where those things could be hiding._

McANDREWS.

 _If they're down here we'll find 'em._

Kelly scans the areas surrounding the landing engine manifold housings. No movement. They continue on. As they are searching the Reactor coolant feed junction housing Kelly's motion tracker beeps loudly, Kelly scans the readout and points to a spot underneath the pipes and conduits. A dark shape moves rapidly.

KELLY.

 _There it goes, don't lose it._

He tracks the chestburster, the two men follow as it disappears behind banks of machinery.

McANDREWS.

 _The little fucker's gone into the Fusion Grid access alcove, we've got him now._

McAndrews slings his flamethrower and levels his taser.

KELLY.

 _Kelly to Hunter we've got one. It's near the Fusion Grid housing, we've got it cornered._

The two men advance, the chestburster is trapped.

CLOSE UP ON:

The eyeless creature, it resembles a segmented snake with the stumps of vestigial arms. It hisses at the two men revealing a mouth full of steel teeth. Kelly hits it with a jolt from his shock stunner as McAndrews repeatedly tasers the small creature. It reels then recovers, it spits a stream of yellow liquid at the two men but misses them. They repeatedly stun and taser the creature until it lies spent on the floor, still very much alive it tries weakly to rise but is exhausted. Kelly puts down the ore sample container he is carrying and using a pair of ore handling tongs lifts the creature into the lead alloy container.

CLOSE UP ON:

The bank of machinery that was hit by the creature's acid spit. It is smoking and bubbling as the acid eats into the sensitive machinery. A strident alarm sounds.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _WARNING. CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE. FUSION GRID COOLANT REGULATOR CONTROL DAMAGED. BYPASS DAMAGED CONTROL IMMEDIATELY. WARNING CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE..._

McANDREWS.

 _Shit._

He grabs a fire extinguisher and sprays the smoking machinery.

HUNTER. V.O.

 _What the hell is going on down there?_

KELLY.

 _We got the little bastard, but he didn't go down easy, spat some sort of acid at us._

HUNTER. V.O.

 _OK we're on our way down._

McAndrews is working frantically on the damaged machinery.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - QUARTER DECK.

Elias and Taylor are methodically searching the Quarter deck.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _WARNING. CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE. FUSION GRID COOLANT REGULATOR CONTROL DAMAGED. BYPASS DAMAGED CONTROL IMMEDIATELY. WARNING CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE..._

ELIAS.

 _Elias to Hunter, do you require our assistance?_

HUNTER. V.O.

 _No, you two keep searching, they've caught one and we need to find the other two ASAP._

ELIAS.

 _Copy that._

The alarm and computer warning are shut off.

Elias and Taylor continue searching.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING.

McAndrews is working feverishly to bypass the damaged coolant regulator, Kelly assisting. Hunter and Broussard enter.

HUNTER.

 _What's our status?_

McANDREWS.

 _Fucked if we can't bypass the damaged regulator pretty damn quick._

KELLY.

 _Captain you might want to get rid of the beast before it wakes up enough to start spitting acid again._

He indicates the chestburster locked in the ore sample container.

HUNTER.

 _Broussard you help McAndrews and Kelly and I'll get rid of this._

Hunter exits carrying the ore sample container.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - MAINTENANCE ACCESS AIRLOCK.

Hunter opens the inner door and places the ore container inside the airlock. He exits the lock and closes the inner door. He presses the button labeled PURGE and the ore container and chestburster are sucked from the open airlock into the void.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - QUARTER DECK.

Elias and Taylor are searching. Taylor spots something under the deck grating beneath an air duct.

TAYLOR.

 _Hold up, there's something under here._

He bends down and reaches underneath the grating, he snags the object, stands up and they inspect what he has found.

CLOSE UP ON:

A slimy, thin, yellowish membrane, oily and sticky with strands of a clear mucous like substance.

Taylor reacts with disgust at the discarded membrane.

TAYLOR.

 _What the hell is it?_

ELIAS.

 _It appears that one of the organisms has shed it's skin. We don't have much time._

TAYLOR.

 _If it's gone into the air ducts it could be anywhere._

ELIAS.

 _We need to search the crew's quarters one by one._

They begin searching the empty rooms.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ. - ENGINEERING.

McAndrews is running cables. Broussard and Kelly are hooking the cables into the bypass console. Hunter is standing watch, occasionally sweeping the engineering section with his motion tracker.

HUNTER.

 _How's it coming McAndrews?_

McANDREWS.

 _She'll be OK, we're getting it under control._

He runs another cable from the damaged console.

McANDREWS.

 _Regulator feed control. Grid One._

Kelly begins hooking the cable into a housing in the bypass console.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - QUARTER DECK.

Elias and Taylor have finished searching the crew's quarters.

TAYLOR.

 _I don't think we're going to find anything, let's round up Krahe and Takamura and find the others. I'll get Hiroshi you go get Krahe._

ELIAS.

 _Affirmative._

They split up.

INT. USCSS KURTZ – KRAHE'S QUARTERS.

Elias enters the hatch of Krahe's cabin. He finds the infected Krahe laying on his bunk, his body monstrously bloated by the mutagenic bile inside him. Elias walks over to the unconscious man. The veins in his body are traced in black, in sharp contrast to the sickly yellowish grey colour of his skin which is secreting a clear thick mucous, cocooning the man in preparation for some hideous metamorphosis.

ELIAS.

 _Mr. Krahe? Mr. Krahe can you hear me?_

Suddenly the unconscious man's eyes open wide, they are milky and glazed, the small blood vessels turned black.

KRAHE.

 _Please….. Kill me…. Oh god…KILL MEEEEEEEE…_

ELIAS.

 _I can't do that Mr. Krahe, with my behavioural inhibitors I am unable to cause any harm to a human being._

KRAHE

 _I can…..feel something...happening inside me...OH JESUS IT HURTS…. You…..you can't leave me like this….please….. KILL ME..._

CLOSE UP ON:

Krahe's distended abdomen as it bulges out _._

CUT TO:

Elias, realising that there is nothing he can do for the doomed man, makes a decision.

ELIAS.

 _Mr. Krahe I am returning the pistol that was confiscated from you earlier. I am required by law to inform you that it is illegal to possess an unauthorised firearm aboard ship. I will be required to file a report with authorities upon Earth arrival._

He places the pistol in Krahe's hands.

KRAHE.

 _Thank you._

ELIAS.

 _My behavioural inhibitors also prevent me from allowing a human being to come to harm through inaction. I will leave you now, what you do with the pistol once I have left is beyond my control. I am truly sorry Mr. Krahe._

Elias leaves the cabin, he staggers slightly as he enters the corridor, his inhibitors are compelling him to retrieve the gun. His logic program overcomes the compulsion as he knows that Krahe will come to greater harm if left to mutate. He closes the hatch and heads toward Takamura's cabin.

CLOSE UP ON:

The closed hatch. The sound of a gunshot reverberates through the corridor.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - TAKAMURA'S QUARTERS.

Taylor looks down at the empty bed covered in alien mucous and blood.

TAYLOR.

 _What the fuck?_

He is startled by the sound of the gunshot. His motion tracker beeps, something moved in the air duct. He levels his taser and approaches the duct grating.

TAYLOR.

 _I've got you now you little bastard._

He reaches down and removes the grate.

CLOSE UP ON:

The Duct. An adult xenomorph unfolds itself from inside the air shaft. Glistening black exoskeleton, jaws dripping slime. It approaches Taylor, he tasers the alien again and again with no effect. The creature reaches out and grabs the man.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - QUARTER DECK.

Taylor's screams echo through the corridor.

Elias enters Takamura's quarters. Taylor is nowhere to be seen.

CLOSE UP ON:

The air duct.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING.

McAndrews has bridged the damaged console, cables and sheaths of fibre optics are strewn about the deck. McAndrews is spot welding connections inside a console with a mini arc welder. The smoke has cleared somewhat.

McANDREWS.

 _We're OK, I've jury rigged a bypass that will hold until we return to Earth and drydock, we're going to need some major repair and re - fit time._

Broussard is checking the ship's status at a console.

BROUSSARD.

 _No breaches, hull integrity is good. We're lucky that stuff didn't eat right through._

McANDREWS.

 _10 inch thick lead alloy shielding for the Fusion Grids, anywhere else and it would have burned right through the hull. I'll have to run a full diagnostic to find if that crap has damaged any other systems before we go back into the freezers._

HUNTER.

 _Alright people, we've still got two of those things loose. We start here and we close off every bulkhead and hatch until we've found them, Let's move._

They collect their weapons and resume the search.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AIR SHAFT.

Elias is crawling through the duct. He reaches a junction and scans the area with his motion tracker, there is nothing moving. He continues on.

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING DECK.

Hunter, Broussard, McAndrews and Kelly are searching the engineering deck. They finish their sweep.

HUNTER.

 _OK the engineering section is clear._

Kelly's motion tracker beeps.

KELLY.

 _I've got movement in the air shaft, can't lock in._

They cover the air shaft opening with their flamethrowers, tasers and stunners.

CLOSE UP ON:

The air shaft. The grate rattles. The crew tense, ready to fire. Suddenly McAndrews yells.

McANDREWS.

 _Hold up._

He approaches the grate and pulls it off and Elias emerges from the air duct.

HUNTER.

 _Jesus Christ Elias we nearly fried you._

ELIAS.

 _Apologies Captain, I lost my comms unit in the air shaft._

HUNTER.

 _What the hell were you doing in the air shaft?_

ELIAS.

 _One of the creatures took Taylor into the air shaft. I followed but could find no trace of them._

KELLY.

 _We caught one of them, how the fuck does something that small drag a grown man into an air duct?_

ELIAS.

 _The creatures have matured, we found a skin one of them had shed. I surmise that the organisms communicate using pheromones. One of them was "chosen" as a decoy. Somehow they can speed up or slow down somewhat their development, depending on prevailing conditions of their birth. Whilst we were searching for newborn embryos, the other two "accelerated" their development. These creatures are bred for survival Captain._

BROUSSARD.

 _What happened to Krahe and Takamura?_

ELIAS.

 _Krahe is dead. Takamura has undergone a metamorphosis, he must have been exposed to some kind of mutagen in the pyramid. The hybrid creature infected Krahe with a mutagenic substance._

KELLY.

 _Well that's just fucking great, apart from two aliens we got Takamura to worry about as well?_

HUNTER.

 _If they're using the air shafts I'm going in after them. Flush them out and eject them into space._

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AIR SHAFT.

CLOSE UP ON:

A small junction. The Takamura hybrid is inside. It is secreting massive amounts of alien mucous, forming a cocoon. It appears to have doubled in size, but as the camera pulls in for an extreme close up we see that the hybrid has Taylor in a hideous embrace. He is being cocooned with the hybrid and is almost covered with the alien mucous. Taylor moans... he is still alive.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING DECK.

Hunter, Broussard and Elias are at the main outlet for the air ducts. Hunter is preparing to enter the shafts.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AIR SHAFT SECONDARY OUTLET.

Kelly and McAndrews are covering the secondary outlet, they have removed the grate. The overhead fluoro light is cutting out intermittently, leaving the corridor in shadows evey time it cuts out.

KELLY.

 _Jesus McAndrews, can't you fix that thing? If one of those things comes this way I wanta be able to see it._

McAndrews goes over to a lighting panel, he slings his flamethrower and opens the panel.

CUT TO:

The air shaft. Behind Kelly an alien unfolds itself silently from the air shaft. Kelly turns back to see the adult xenomorph, it's jaws open dripping slime.

KELLY.

 _Oh fuck._

McAndrews grabs his flamethrower and aims at the xenomorph, Kelly is right in front of the creature. Kelly hits the alien with jolt after jolt from his taser, but the alien keeps coming for him.

McANDREWS.

 _Get out of the way._

The xenomorph grabs Kelly. It's tongue spears through the man's head. The creature hurls Kelly's corpse at McAndrews who goes down.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AIR SHAFT - MAIN OUTLET.

The others hear the mens shouts, they run off toward the secondary outlet.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - AIR SHAFT - SECONDARY OUTLET.

Hunter, Broussard and Elias reach the secondary outlet. Kelly is dead, a large hole in his skull seeping blood and brain matter onto the deck. McAndrews is nowhere to be seen.

HUNTER.

 _McAndrews...McAndrews do you copy...Randall do you read me?_

He gets no response. He takes off the comms headset and hurls it angrily at the wall.

BROUSSARD.

 _It's only us left, everyone else is dead._

Hunter contemplates for a few minutes.

HUNTER.

 _OK plans have changed. We're heading for the shuttle bay._

BROUSSARD.

 _We're getting out of here Captain?_

Hunter nods his assent. They move out toward the shuttle bay.

INT. USCSS KURTZ – SHUTTLE BAY

CLOSE UP ON:

The entry hatch. Hunter enters the shuttle bay, flamethrower at the ready, he checks out the shuttle entry lock. It is empty, no sign of the aliens is apparent. He gestures to Broussard and Elias and they enter the shuttle bay.

HUNTER.

 _Alright Mr. Elias prep the shuttle for launch. Skip the pre flight checks I want it ready to go in 15 minutes._

ELIAS.

 _Aye sir._

HUNTER.

 _Deep Station Melville is the closest outpost, that's your destination. Once you are clear of the ship, set your course and burn your engines until you've exhausted the fuel, you should get clear in time._

BROUSSARD.

 _What do you mean? We're all getting out of here, the shuttle has two hypersleep capsules._

HUNTER.

 _It will take twenty five years to reach Deep Station Melville in the shuttle, the hypersleep system won't support two for that long. The shuttle was only ever intended to be a short term lifeboat._

BROUSSARD.

 _If you don't go, I'm not going._

HUNTER.

 _If we both go we both die. At least this way you have a chance._

BROUSSARD.

 _In twenty five years my husband will be fifty seven and my son will be thirty. The next time I see them my son will nearly be the same age as me._

HUNTER.

 _At least you'll be alive._

BROUSSARD.

 _I'm not going. We stay here and fight, we take back our ship._

HUNTER.

 _There's only one sure way to stop these things. If you don't get on that shuttle I'll order Elias to carry you aboard and restrain you until the shuttle has launched, understood?_

BROUSSARD.

 _Aye sir._

HUNTER.

 _There's no time for long goodbyes. Mr. Elias it has been an honour and a privilege serving with you._

ELIAS.

 _As for me also Captain. This crew has always treated me with courtesy and respect, something not required by company regulations._

HUNTER.

 _Take good care of my First Officer._

Hunter extends his hand and they shake. Elias boards the shuttle and begins prepping for launch.

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain…_

Hunter grips Broussard's upper arms gently.

HUNTER.

 _Go, you have a mission. Convince the military to sterilise that moon, fusion bomb it out of existence. We can't let those creatures or anything else from that hellhole reach the colonies. I will do what I have to here._

Broussard realises what the Captain is planning to do.

CLOSE UP ON:

Broussard's face, her eyes are moist and a single tear drips down her cheek.

BROUSSARD.

 _Captain you don't have to do this, come with us._

HUNTER.

 _I have to make sure, I'm sorry but you have to go, now._

He gives her arms a gentle squeeze and lets go, Broussard steps forward and gives the Captain a brief hug. She enters the shuttle and the airlock closes behind her. Hunter looks after her for a few seconds then exits the shuttle bay.

CUT TO:

INT. SHUTTLECRAFT ICARUS.

Broussard and Elias are strapped in, they are flicking switches and inputting commands into the shuttle's nav-com.

COMPUTER.V.O.

 _Shuttle launch in T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Ignition._

Broussard and Elias are slammed back into their pilot's seats as the engine ignites and the shuttle accelerates rapidly away from the mother ship.

CUT TO:

EXT. DEEP SPACE - ZETA II RETICULI SYSTEM.

The Kurtz recedes rapidly into the distance until it disappears from view entirely

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - ENGINEERING.

Face set in grim determination Hunter enters engineering. Flamethrower leveled he scans the room with his motion tracker, no movement. Slowly he makes his way to the Fusion Grid coolant regulator main control, sweeping his motion tracker. At the console he takes a chain from around his neck, inserting the key on the end of the chain into a slot on the console, he turns the key.

HUNTER.

 _Computer this is Captain Hunter. Shut down Fusion Grid coolant system. Voice recognition authorisation: Alpha one. Gamma five. Delta fifteen. Inputting authorisation code._

Hunter inputs a code into the console.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Verify failsafe override code._

HUNTER.

 _Failsafe override authorisation Hunter Alpha Kilo ZZ Alpha nine._

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Fusion Grid Coolant System offline. Ship will self destruct in T minus fifteen minutes._

The warning alarm begins and the emergency lights begin flashing.

HUNTER.

 _Computer discontinue audio countdown until further notification._

Hunter exits engineering. Making his way toward the bridge he scans each junction carefully before continuing on. He reaches the last junction, it is clear. He enters the lift to the flight deck.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - FLIGHT DECK.

The lift door opens. There is a xenomorph right outside, it wheels around as the lift opens. Hunter unleashes a burst of flame at the alien which retreats, hissing at Hunter. He exits the lift, releasing controlled burst of flame at the alien driving it away from him. Suddenly the flamethrower starts to sputter and cut out. It is malfunctioning.

HUNTER.

 _Oh shit._

The flamethrower releases one more sustained burst and dies, Hunter drops the now useless weapon and sprints for the open bridge hatch twenty metres away, the alien stops retreating and pursues him. Hunter makes it to the bridge and slaps the pressure hatch control, the four inch thick steel door slams closed. He takes a handgun from a storage locker

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - FLIGHT DECK.

The alien is still fifteen metres from the bridge when the pressure hatch closes.

CUT TO:

INT. USCSS KURTZ - BRIDGE - DEEP SPACE - ZETA II RETICULI SYSTEM

Hunter sits at the pilot's console on the bridge the pistol in one hand. He presses controls on the Comm panel.

HUNTER. (Still breathing hard from his sprint for the bridge)

 _This is the final log entry of Captain Richard Hunter, USCSS Kurtz...We intercepted an alien transmission in the Zeta II Reticuli system and landed on moon designated LV 427 to investigate... My crew are all dead. Some infected by an organism that lays an embryo inside a living host, the rest were killed by the adult creatures the infected were incubating... The adult form of this organism are extremely hostile and very hard to kill, they have an armoured exoskeleton and extremely corrosive blood...Tasers and shock stunners are ineffective against the creatures, projectile weapons will kill them , though the blood will eat through four inch thick hardened steel bulkheads with ease...My ship is infested with these beasts and accordingly there is only one course of action left open to me. I can't take the chance of these abominations reaching an inhabited system._

Hunter presses another control on the panel.

HUNTER.

 _Computer upload last log entry and eject the black box. Resume audio countdown, sixty second intervals._

A sudden impact on the bulkhead hatch sends a deafening clang reverberating throughout the bridge, and a large bulge appears in the four inch thick pressure door.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Black box pod ejected...Ship will self destruct in T minus five minutes._

The bulkhead hatch is bulging out of shape as the Alien batters at it.

Hunter looks at the gun in his hand.

The bulkhead hatch is breached. The Alien tears at the steel to make a hole large enough to squeeze it's body through.

COMPUTER V.O.

 _Ship will self destruct in T minus three minutes._

The Alien is through the hatch. It lunges for Hunter.

CLOSE UP ON:

Hunter as he puts the gun to his head

HUNTER.

 _God forgive me._

He pulls the trigger.

CUT TO:

EXT. DEEP SPACE - ZETA II RETICULI SYSTEM.

The USCSS Kurtz is destroyed in an immense explosion.

FADE OUT.

OPEN ON:

INT. WEYLAND/YUTANI CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS - THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY - JULY 2121.

BOARD MEMBER'S EXECUTIVE OFFICES.

MELKONIS.

 _Do you remember the survey ship that was listed as missing with all hands last year, The Kurtz?_

ROBY.

 _Vaguely, she was two years overdue wasn't she?_

MELKONIS.

 _That's the one. A Deep Salvage Team found the black box. It was pretty banged up but the tech boys managed to recover a few files, I think you'll find this interesting._

He inserts a disc into his holographic display unit and presses play.

A warning flashes up: RESTRICTED ACCESS: Security level ASC 12 ONLY.

The holographic display flickers and jumps, the file is badly corrupted. An Image of Hunter appears and begins to speak

HUNTER.

 _This...log entry of Captain... Hunter,...SS Kurtz... intercepted ..alien trans...the Zeta II Reticuli... landed...LV 427 to investigate...crew...dead. Some infect...organism...lays an embryo ..side a living host, the rest...killed...adult creature...infected were incubating... The adult... ... is extremely hostile ... very hard to kill, they... armour...exoskeleton...extremely corrosive blood...Tasers... shock stunners are ineffective... the creatures, projectile weapons... kill them , though the blood... eat through four... thick hardened steel bulkheads with ease...My ship is infested with these..., and accordingly there... one course of action left open to me. I ca... chance of ... abominations reaching...habited system._

MELKONIS.

 _There was also a partial file from the Flight Deck surveillance camera._

The display flickers and jumps, then a sudden glimpse of an Alien: nine feet tall, black exoskeleton, elongated head with no eyes. The jaws dripping slime, open and what appear to be another set of jaws is revealed. The display fades to black.

MELKONIS.

 _The tech boys think the Captain blew up the ship, that's why the black box was damaged. The radiation from the pod matches the radiation signature from the detonation of a Class Two Fusion Drive._

ROBY.

 _Jesus Christ._

MELKONIS.

 _These creatures would be worth billions to the Bioweapons division. Just think of the tactical uses such an aggresive life form could be put to. Not to mention the advances in body armour, new Industrial corrosives, all sorts of applications the study of these things could yield._

ROBY.

 _By the time we can outfit an expedition and get them out there, somebody else could beat us to it. We don't want to lose something this valuable to a competitor, Biotech Systems could stumble onto this. We need someone out there ASAP so we've got exclusive rights._

MELKONIS.

 _Just what I was thinking. I may have a solution._

He taps away at his keyboard and brings up a file.

MELKONIS.

 _I've been going through the transport division files and I've come up with a plan._

The holographic unit displays a ship's schematics. The text reads:

USCSS NOSTROMO - Class Three Towing Vehicle.

MELKONIS.

 _She's scheduled to leave Thedus in four months, hauling a mineral ore refinery back to Earth. I can get their Science officer replaced with one of our stealth synthetics. The "special" models without the Asimovian behavioural inhibitors. He will be programmed to re - route the Nostromo to the Zeta II Reticuli system and "discover" the transmission. The crew of course will be expendable. and all other mission priorities will be rescinded._

ROBY.

 _What about the cargo? That's a hell of a lot of ore to risk losing._

MELKONIS.

 _His main priority will be the life form. His agenda will be to get one of the crew infected and have them frozen for return to Earth. If he handles this properly we get the life form and the refinery, it's a win/win situation._

ROBY.

 _I like it. I think this calls for a drink to celebrate, Bourbon?_

Melkonis nods yes in response. Roby dials up two glasses of Wild Turkey 20th Century vintage from the Autobar. Melkonis raises his glass in a toast.

MELKONIS.

 _Here's to the Nostromo._

ROBY.

 _The Nostromo_.

FADE OUT.

THE END.


End file.
